\doc\web\97\02\gavan.txt National Racism Barometer in South Africa Date sent: Sat, 22 Feb 1997 06:39:42 -0500 Send reply to: Hank Roth's PNEWS CONFERENCES From: The Combat Zone Subject: [PNEWS] Affirmative Action in SA To: PNEWS-L@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU From: Gavan Tredoux From: Taylor, John KAFKAESQUE NIGHTMARE OF RACISM 'EXPERTS' LET LOOSE ON THE NEW S A- Samuel Johnson (1709 - 1784) taught us that patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel. More recently, Ken Andrews of the DP remarked that he hoped that the charge of racism would not become the last refuge of the incompetent. Last month the Human Rights Commission announced, from its offices in leafy Houghton, a programme for action in terms of a UN initiative aimed at eliminating racism and radical discrimination. It is a bizarre and disturbing document which calls, for example, for a national racism barometer which will 'publish details of the state of anti-racism practice in schools, the civil service, commerce and industry, in business, in throughout (sic) all levels of government.' It envisages a vast body of racism auditors who would perform racism audits on 'all public and private institutions' which would 'have the same force in law as a financial audit'. As anyone who has been in business knows, there is a degree of subjectivity in a financial audit, but objective measures such as money in the bank, stock in the warehouses and so on dominate such audits. Imagine thousands of racism auditors, qualified who knows how, roaming around giving their opinions on racism or the lack of it in 'all public and private institutions' with offences punishable by law. It is like a nightmare from Kafka. What this commission apparently seeks is an army of thought police who will determine what peoples' attitudes are and then have those who don't measure up subjected to the force of law and embarrassed in public. There are even suggestions which reminded me of what the Soviets lovingly called 're-education'. For the media there is the ominous proposal that something called a national racism barometer review 'make regular careful analysis of newspapers, publications, radio, television in order to show the meaning behind language, idioms, culture, images that are being projected in the public media'. All this is 'essential in order to show the implications for anti-racism practice of the language and images that are very influential on public behaviour and form attitudes'. I don't know precisely what that is supposed to mean, but it does seem that English is not the first language of the drafter of this curious document. What this proposal does conjure up is a spectre of rooms full of 'reviewers' (let us not unkindly call them censors) poring over our newspapers and magazines, listening endlessly to radio and straining their vision watching TV to discern hints of racism. They would make George Orwell proud. Affirmative action is central to the aims of the Human Rights Commission, although one suspects that the victims of affirmative action on the basis of race should not expect too much sympathy. Affirmative action is a well-intentioned concept developed in the US in the early seventies to protect minorities in that country from discrimination - and is quite dangerous. Firstly its victims are understandably resentful and scared. Those who can leave the country, others take their knowledge and large payoffs and retire or become consultants at vast cost to advise those who have taken their jobs how to do them. The beneficiaries of affirmative action have other problems. If they have been appointed on grounds other than their ability to do the job they may find it difficult to escape feelings of inadequacy and frustration. America's first black partner in the major accounting practices, Elmer J Whiting of Ernst and Young told me that his response to young black graduates seeking lower thresholds of qualification was to ask them if they would want their child operated on by a surgeon who had been qualified through affirmative action or the best surgeon available regardless of race, creed or nationality. Our rulers might ponder the words of British historian Lord Acton: 'It is bad to be oppressed by a minority, but it is worse to be oppressed by a majority.'