The systems of oppression we cannot ignore
2019-01-29 11:44
Because of our separation from our roots we have lost our languages; we do not remember our cultures and traditions, writes Mcebo Dlamini.
Most
of us we come across words like capitalism, racism, colonialism,
imperialism when we get exposed to certain spaces which is
usually much later in our lives.
For
example, growing up I could not understand why my mother had to leave
me everyday and come back at night only to leave me the following morning
again. I did not understand why I hardly saw my father and when I did,
why it would only be for a short while.
I
did not have a language or vocabulary to articulate what
was happening but I knew that I did not like it. It was only later on
in life that I developed a language to speak about these systems of
oppression even though they had long started to affect my life.
READ: On decolonisation - We are black first before we become students
These
systems of oppression are always already happening to us regardless of whether
we can pronounce imperialism or whether we can spell
patriarchy. They are not just abstract terms that only exist in textbooks
but they affect our political and even the most personal aspects of our
lives regardless of where we are or what we know. These systems of
oppression have affected our political and personal interactions.
It
is not by accident but by design that a lot of our family structures are broken
as black people. We sometimes blame ourselves and of course sometimes we
are at fault but the defunct family structures are a direct result of migrant
labour which is a product of colonialism and capitalism.
Migrant
labour played a fundamental part in shaping South Africa's past and
present and has left indelible marks in our society. With colonisation
blacks were forced to work in the mining areas far from their homes. This was
because the colonisers who were now in control of the
land imposed heavy taxation in cash.
Men
were forced to leave their homes and this had a huge impact on African
societies. Women were forced to remain behind and stay with the children. Men
would return during the holidays frustrated and overworked and become
violent as a way to reaffirm their masculinity. Other men would die and
never return.
This
might sound simplistic but this is how South Africa became a fatherless nation
and this is how the South African family structure began to disintegrate.
This
still continues even today. It is because of colonialism qua migrant
labour that blacks are crammed in townships. It is because of migrant
labour that we see flocks of people during Easter and December holidays
going to their homelands and die in car accidents.
It
is still migrant labour that in January you see students queuing outside
universities from remote areas around the country. Yes, it is because of
colonialism that we have become displaced and dislocated in a country we call
our own.
The
implications of this are dire. Because of our separation from our roots we have
lost our languages; we do not remember our cultures and traditions. We
have lost ourselves and how do we forge a future if we do not know who we
are? It is difficult.
Because
we have no knowledge of ourselves we have relied on the ways of the
coloniser to define who we are. They have become the standard of what is good
and what is bad. They determine what success is and what failure
is. They design and destroy our desires and lives at whim.
So, as
a result we spend most of our lives trying to emulate white
people. We begin to shun our ways and embrace those of the white
folk. We call ancestors demons and we take our children to
schools with white people because that's the measure of good education.
We stop
cultivating and speaking our languages, English becomes the measure of
intelligence. We move from where our people are and stay where the whites stay
and that becomes the measure of success. We forget that we are black and
that true freedom will not come through assimilation and integration.
That
is why despite all the efforts by government to unite us through
concepts like the rainbow nation we still have racism on the daily. The
ghost of colonialism continues to haunt us, to disrupt our very being and
existence.
- Dlamini is a former Wits SRC president and student leader. He writes in his personal capacity.
Disclaimer: News24 encourages freedom of speech and the expression of diverse views. The views of columnists published on News24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of News24.
