The lecture shared the narratives of two people from different continents: a woman who was born to white parents who views herself as not being white, and a man from Khoi-San heritage who does not see himself as black.
Clyde Ramalaine, Rachel Doležal and Prof Hans van Deventer
The controversy around Rachel Doležal, a lecturer and black rights activist from the USA, erupted in 2015 when it was revealed that she – in her capacity as chairperson of a chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People and self-proclaimed black woman – was actually born to white parents as a white child.
On the other hand Clyde Ramalaine is an alumnus of the NWU who was born in South Africa and personally lived through the injustices of Apartheid. His father is from Sophiatown and his mother from De Aar. He told the story of a conversation that he had with his father when he was 16 years old. “He told me that there were three things that he would never dictate to me: Whom to marry, which church to belong to and who I want to be.” Clyde said that his father made him promise that he would never let anyone else define him. Shortly thereafter he was banned from school and completed his matric through Success College from the Boksburg Reigerpark shelter.
Two speakers, from two continents, with two stories: A white woman who is not white and a coloured man who is not black. What the pair do have in common, is what they believe in. Clyde summarises it well when he says that it is the right of every person to define him- or herself. According to these two speakers, race is not a biological reality, but rather a political label, created to categorise people according to the way they look. They both hope for the day when we can define ourselves outside the framework of black, white, brown or yellow.
Prof Hans van Deventer wrapped up the session by referring to humanity. His hope is that, even though the dialogue about identity and race must continue, we should always remember first and foremost to see each other as human beings.
