The Durban University of Technology (DUT) hosted film producer, journalist and author, Julie Frederikse, who presented her talk on Non-racialism in South African history in words and pictures, at the Steve Biko Campus, Urban Feature Centre Common Room, last week.
Her talk, discussed the approach and background that gave rise to her book, a master piece which used a ‘mash up’ style of combined words and images. She also tackled issues around the term non-racialism which now has a new meaning in modern society. She added that it was time for talking about the issue of non-racialism and its place it has in a contemporary and democratic South Africa. She stressed that it may be time to revisit the history of how this concept had developed and of the usage of the term non-racialism in contemporary South Africa.
Frederikse said that non-racialism is a term of its time, stating that its definition had changed over the years. “Racialism in the apartheid era is very different to the one of today. Nowadays there is a lot of discrimination within the black community. The solidarity to fight for one cause is no longer there and there is discrimination towards foreigners simply because they were not born in a particular place. People are often teased for having a darker skin than the next person,” she said.
She also shared her experiences of how she was treated differently and referred to as an outsider. She argued that social exclusion was not just a problem in South Africa but also a global problem. “In black communities you can be treated differently just because you come from a rural society.” You can escape the rural area, but you can’t escape the prejudices. White people also judge other Whites by the way they talk, dress and live, so social exclusion is not just a phenomena found in the black community only,” she said.
The seminar concluded with an intriguing question and answer session, where attendees asked questions on how the matter of racialism could be dealt with, going forward.
-Siphephelo Sibiya
Pictured: Author, Journalist and Film Producer Julie Frederikse.
