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Racism a 'pink' issue
13/07/2005 09:02 - (SA)
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| Dr Manduleli Bikitsha's pink house in Somerset West. (Esa Alexander, Die Burger) |
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Racism is not a black and white issue anymore. It's pink. I'm not talking about some fancy new attempt to reclassify white people, who I must admit have never struck me as being particularly white in these parts, but about Dr Manduleli Bikitsha's pink house in Somerset West.
For those of you who aren't news junkies who read every story, let me fill you in on the details. A couple of years ago, Dr Bikitsha moved into the neighbourhood and painted his house a shocking pink. Naturally, as his neighbours would say, or unnaturally as Dr Bikitsha would say, people complained.
Dr Bikitsha was adamant that the pink was staying. According to the doctor, "My ancestors came to me in a dream and told me to paint the house pink. I respect the voice of my ancestors".
I'm not as up on ancestor worship as I might be, something my mother will bitterly testify to. So for all I know, ancestors are a common source of decorating advice.
Personally, I wouldn't furnish my home according to advice given to me by Jesus, as I suspect his taste in furniture would be a little rural for my modern city apartment. Equally, I wouldn't take dress advice from Buddha ("Ooh, that dirty brown goes so well with your eyes!").
Hmm. As I read that last paragraph, I realise I know as little about Christianity and Buddhism as I do about ancestor worship. Oh well, moving on. Back to the pink house.
The pink house
To express their dislike of Dr Bikitsha's pink house, someone has spray-painted "Pink Panther" on the wall. According to the doctor, this is a racist act.
Now, far be it from me to deny a black man his right to shout "Racism!" every time he stubs his toe while getting out of bed in the morning, but come on. Pink Panther? Surely there are slightly better racist insults than that?
I can't help feeling that if we're going to claim that every disagreement about style, or lack of style, is a racist act, we're going to find ourselves in the position of the boy who cried Wit Wolf.
When a Wit Wolf does eventually appear, nobody's going to believe you until after he's actually shot you. And it's not as if there isn't enough racism to go around in this happy land of ours.
Still, I do sympathise with Dr Bikitsha in one way. He lives in Somerset West, for goodness sake!
One of the spiritual homes of that ghastly architectural "style" known by the insulting term "boere baroque".
Have you ever been into one of those houses? Taking style criticism from someone who lives there is like taking child-rearing tips from Michael Jackson. Or financial advice from Jacob Zuma.
Did I mention that the words "Pink Panther" were sprayed on in gold paint? You people in the Limpopo Province and Kwazulu-Natal won't know this, because you don't have homosexuals, but here in Cape Town the pink and gold is a clue to something we call "gayness".
Dr Bikitsha, bad news. It's worse than racism. I'm afraid your house in Flufftail Street may have become a gay icon. (I'm not making up that street name, by the way. That's where he lives. In his pink house on Flufftail Street.)
According to one version of this story that I read, "Bikitsha follows Xhosa cultural traditions and is planning a ceremonial offering to the ancestors in which a cow will be slaughtered. The doctor, who practises in Khayelitsha, said the ceremony would take place in the pink house and a kraal would be built to house cattle used for the ceremony."
I bet THAT'S going to cause some feather boas to fly in Somerset Ridge. Again, interested bystanders will observe the humour inherent in this culture clash. A bunch of people whose idea of a tasty delicacy is a slab of salty, flyshit-covered meat hung up for a while to dry, complaining about a man who thinks it's culturally appropriate to kill a cow in his front yard - ha, welcome to South Africa, my friend.
Chris Roper is a pantheist. One who worships the Pink Panther. Go, Pinkie!
Send your comments to Chris or discuss this column now in our debating forum.
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