When crying racism becomes dangerous

Perhaps the most serious accusation you can throw at anyone in our racially divided country is to accuse them of racism… because the automatic presumption of innocence is often turned on its head and the accused must prove they are not guilty.

In South Africa today, with its well-documented history of white racism – and don’t argue about that, because apartheid was exactly that – it’s understandable that the majority of accusations of racism are levelled against whites, or non-Africans.

There is even an often-touted belief that it is impossible for victims of racism to be racist themselves, which is an absurd construct.

When allegations of racism turn out to be wrong – incorrect at best or deliberately trumped-up at worst – then a stigma still remains and the victims often struggle to clear their names, even when found not guilty in formal proceedings.

Such seems to be the case with the head of Pretoria High School for Girls, Phillipa Erasmus, who was hung out to dry earlier this year by the Gauteng department of education over claims that white pupils were making racist comments on a supposed “whites-only” WhatsApp group.

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After 12 white girls were suspended and a supposed investigation conducted by the department, the allegations of racism has turned out to be false.

Yet, as lawyer and activist Richard Wilkinson correctly points out, the department seems to want to get rid of Erasmus on any charges, now that the racism claims have imploded.

Now she has been found guilt of misconduct for, among other things, allowing her husband to help tend to the school gardens – for free.

This state of affairs is absurd.

Crying racism when there is none – like crying wolf – hurts those who are its real victims… and can encourage more racism in future.

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Let’s not ignore that reality.