Persistence of Race Persistence Publication
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PERSISTENCE OF RACE PERSISTENCE PUBLICATION A CREATIVE SPACE FOR THE MIND OF RACE The STIAS research theme on Being Human Today explores the interrelated questions: What does it mean to be human? And: What is the nature of the world in which we aspire to be human? In the context of post-apartheid South Africa, race and racism remain key references in both these questions. Why is this so, considering that the biological basis of race thinking has been refuted? Templates of race and racialism remain at the core of state policy in South Africa, periodic gross incidents of racism surface in public, and notions of the existence of races remain central to everyday thinking and discourse. This book is the result of the work of a group of leading thinkers and their in-depth conversations at STIAS during the winter of 2015 on the effects of race. Convened by evolutionary anthropologist Nina Jablonski and sociologist Gerhard Maré, the group included Njabulo Ndebele, Chabani Manganyi, Barney Pityana, Crain Soudien, Göran Therborn, Mikael Hjerm, Zimitri Erasmus and George Chaplin. The group reconvened annually through 2017. This is the third in a series of planned publications on their work. NINA G. JABLONSKI | EDITOR Nina G. Jablonski is Evan Pugh University Professor of Anthropology at The Pennsylvania State University. Her fundamental interests are human and primate evolution, the evolution of human diversity and public education about these topics. Her work on the evolution and meanings of human skin colour led her to fulfilling a long- term association with STIAS and to write her latest book, Living Color: The Biological and Social Meaning of Skin Color (University of California Press, 2012). ISBN 978-1-928480-44-0 NINA G. JABLONSKI 9781928 480440 www.sun-e-shop.co.za EDITOR PERSISTENCE OF RACE " EDITOR NINA G. JABLONSKI Persistence of Race Published by African Sun Media under the SUN PReSS imprint All rights reserved Copyright © 2020 African Sun Media and STIAS This publication was subjected to an independent double-blind peer evaluation by the publisher. The authors and the publisher have made every effort to obtain permission for and acknowledge the use of copyrighted material. Refer all enquiries to the publisher. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any electronic, photographic or mechanical means, including photocopying and recording on record, tape or laser disk, on microfilm, via the Internet, by e-mail, or by any other information storage and retrieval system, without prior written permission by the publisher. Views reflected in this publication are not necessarily those of the publisher. First edition 2019 ISBN 978-1-928480-44-0 ISBN 978-1-928480-45-7 (e-book) https://doi.org/10.18820/9781928480457 Set in Arno Pro 12/14 Cover design, typesetting and production by African Sun Media Cover image: Edoardo Villa (1915-2011) steel sculpture Conversation (1971), located at School of Mechanical Engineering building, Howard College campus, University of KwaZulu-Natal. (Photographer © Andrew Griffins) SUN PReSS is an imprint of African Sun Media. Scholarly, professional and reference works are published under this imprint in print and electronic formats. This publication can be ordered from: [email protected] Takealot: bit.ly/2monsfl Google Books: bit.ly/2k1Uilm africansunmedia.store.it.si (e-books) Amazon Kindle: amzn.to/2ktL.pkL Visit africansunmedia.co.za for more information. The STIAS series The Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study (STIAS) was born from a simple but powerful conviction: in this part of the world special initiatives are required to create and maintain an environment where we can generate and engage with conceptual frameworks and knowledge that may guide us in tracking and co‑shaping global academic developments and that will allow us to address the ‘big’ questions and issues South Africa and the African continent face, also in a global context. STIAS has been moulded in the tradition of Institutes for Advanced Study across the globe. It distinguished itself by encompassing all disciplines from the natural to the social sciences and humanities (with a particular emphasis on research grounded in multi‑disciplinarity), by maintaining a focus on the African and South African context, and by striving towards contemporary relevance, also by actively creating avenues for communicating the results of its research projects to a wider public. The STIAS series publications, of which this is the fifteenth volume, are thus aimed at a broad public which will naturally vary with specific research themes. Straddling the academic world and the forum of an engaging public is a challenge that STIAS accepts; we trust that each STIAS publication reflects the ‘creative space for the mind’ in which it is rooted, stimulates public interest and debate, and contributes to informed decision making at various levels of our society. Further information about STIAS and its research programme may be found at www.stias.ac.za. Edward Kirumira STIAS Director Stellenbosch November 2019 CONTENTS List of Contributors ............................................................................... xi An introduction ..................................................................................... 1 Nina G. Jablonski HOW THE STAGE WAS SET 1 Racism’s workshop: Explaining prejudice and hate . 11 Crain Soudien Introduction ........................................................................................... 11 Prejudice ................................................................................................ 14 Hate ...................................................................................................... 19 Some issues: How do prejudice and hate work? Do they work differently? ........................................................................ 22 A way forward: Between prejudice and hate ............................................... 24 References .............................................................................................. 31 2 An unlikely turning point: Skin bleaching and the growth of colourism in South Africa ...................................................................... 33 Nina G. Jablonski Skin lightening in historical context .......................................................... 34 The commercial development of skin lighteners in the United States and South Africa ..................................................................................... 36 The rise of skin bleaching in South Africa .................................................. 36 Conclusion: The introduction of skin bleaches into South Africa was a genuine turning point . 39 References .............................................................................................. 40 3 Settler-colonialism, nationalism and geopolitical politics: An overview of the mobilisation of race in South Africa in the context of lost turning points ...................................................... 43 George Chaplin Introduction ........................................................................................... 43 Prehistory .............................................................................................. 45 South Africa’s strategic position ................................................................ 45 Race, racialism and racism in settler, colonial or nationalist South Africa ....... 46 The first encounter with mercantile Europeans .......................................... 47 Early ideas were not embedded in race, but in terms of religion, monetary worth and location ................................................................... 48 Dutch identity emerges in reaction to British economic colonialism ............. 49 Modern imperialistic capitalism and colonialism ........................................ 51 Dutch settlers cement the concept of Afrikaners ......................................... 51 The British seek to crush emerging Afrikaner identity ................................. 52 Complex interplay between groups of the South African population ............ 54 Anti-British elements seek theories and allies on the global stage . 54 Early communism ................................................................................... 55 Afrikaner nationalism looks to Europe ...................................................... 57 Post-World War I social experiments in Europe .......................................... 57 The British colonialist attitude after the start of decolonialism ..................... 64 Indigenous people respond to nationalist provocation ................................ 65 Multicultural support for more equal treatment moves to the left ................. 65 Communism amongst African indigenous groups ...................................... 66 International response to perceived communist threat ................................ 68 Later Dutch-Afrikaner attitudes ................................................................ 70 Discussion of turning points ..................................................................... 71 Conclusion ............................................................................................. 72 Acknowledgements ................................................................................. 74 References .............................................................................................. 75 4 From settler to postcolonial: The turn of the South African nation-state