Introduction
At
first glance the book, Ryland Fisher’s Race looks like a typical book you would
not want to pick up and read, the length is a drag and the cover page quite
simple, but when you delve into it, the book is different. It contains
interviews of a group of heterogeneous people with different backgrounds,
status quo, lifestyle and minds. Each person has a fixed and rigid answer for
what race is and what racism means and how they view it.
Brief overview of the contents
The
book is meant to spark up conversations in post-apartheid South Africa on what
race really means to us as individuals, and as a rainbow nation almost two
decades after the Apartheid era. The author looks at how each person defines
race and their place in society and then lets you the reader decide which is
better and again he looks at the answers and tries to analyse what the
interviewee is saying.
The purpose and
the audience of the book
The
main focus of the book is its title Race and it automatically moves away from
the main theme and tries to discuss issues around racism, and racism as an
issue more often than not air brushed. Racism is mostly confined to the white
man being superior to the black man, and the black man being inferior to the
white man, what about the coloureds and Indians. And in any case who is
responsible for identifying which race or ethnic group one should belong to? Is
it skin, hair or status?
Such
issues are somewhat spoken of in the book. The 250 pages book looks like a bore
at first glance but once you pick it up, there is no putting it down because
not only is it different but it also sparks up conversation within. It makes
you sit and wonder how things would have turned out if we were not under
apartheid or if my thoughts about other races would be different id i was not of
this race and what difference would that make.
This
book makes you take a different look at your world and how things are done,
yesternight I was in the ladies with coloured women and the first thing that
came to mind was this book and the question “what do they think of me”. The
book is a consciousness to say hey you are not the only one who is affected
here but that we all are one way or another. And if we plan to build a brighter
future, we need to move away from being the victims to being heroes and
heroine, willing to let the torch of unity and acceptance as one nation reign
in every aspect of our lives.
Compare the book
to the last one I read
The
Stillwater promise was based on love, mistake, broken promises, lies and reconciliation;
both of these books share a few similar themes such as mistakes and going
towards a route of reconciliation. Race is not a once off read that is easy to
understand, it needs a deeper understanding of what the author wanted to
achieve through writing such a masterpiece. Each chapter in Stillwater promise
forms a thread to the past and links everything nicely for you lazy to think,
race is different. It analyses and says things to a certain level and then
allows you, the reader to make the final call on whether to read further or to
shut the book altogether.
A summary of the
main points of the book, quoting and paraphrasing at least three key phrases
from the author
In
his final thoughts section on page 245 Ryland tells us that “I decided that
confusion was probably the best state to tackle a book of this nature. I hope
that i have been able to inspire readers to question and review their
viewpoints on racism, and that we as South Africans will continue to look for
answers”. This quote stresses on the issue that Ryland is looking on starting
researches and investigations by individuals that will lead to balanced and
truthful talks on race and racism.
In the
chapter with the heading who are we? Ryland explores the question is there such
a thing as a South African identity? Here he mainly concentrates on the
language we have gotten used to calling each other. He pays special attention
to coloureds because he says that he has never been able to relate to being a
coloured due to the opinion that he is yet to understand on what basis one
becomes a coloured.
He
goes further to ask if it’s because of skin colour, and he disagrees because he
goes on to say some coloureds are whiter and others blacker than others. Even
hair texture cannot be the basis on which one is said to be coloureds; Ryland
concludes that it is simply a way of defining people who cannot be defined in
any other way.
My evaluation of
the book, how well has the book achieved its goal?
Ryland
does not only explore that he is a racist but in chapter 7 he tackles the topic
can racism ever be eliminated? This may sound like a cliché because all that
has been happening in post-apartheid South Africa is talks to talk about race
and racism. He says that as a previous editor of the Cape Times, he the media
are supposed to be a mirror of the society, and that one could argue that as long
as our society is racist, the media will also be racist.
With
Kenny and Sielie Nolan, Sielie did not believe that there was racism in the
media and Tracy-Lee Rosslind begs to
differ and says “ we need to walk away from stereotypes, because the stereotypes
that we had in the apartheid era all reflected negatively on the non-white
society.
Ryland
explores both his strength and flaws in being racist and why he says such about
himself. He chose to interview an interesting group of people who are not afraid
to say who and what they are and their take on race and racism such as Orania
leader, Carel Boshoff who says that he does not reduce everything to racism, however,
he does not accept every references as racist.
Vincent
Barnes is the assistant coach of the South African national cricket team and he
says ‘it was traumatic for me as an anti-apartheid sportsman in those years to
work at the dockyard “. The goal of the book which is to raise discussions on
race and racism is achieved at an alarming rate that makes one wonder what had
gotten into Roland when he was thinking about writing such a book as Rhoda
Kadalie, one of the interviewees asked him. To ask one why there is such
behaviour among us as a people and what brought it to life, and if there are
ways to curb this burning flame and live with each other as ordinary human
beings.
Background
information
Ryland
Fisher is a former CEO of the Cape Times and Sekunjalo Media Holdings.
Ryland
fisher interviews South Africans on the issue of race, the role that it has
played in their lives as individuals and how they see the future in a
post-apartheid South Africa. Fisher goes on to tackle an issue of high
sensitivity with the goal of starting a discussion on what race has meant to
these interviews and what it means to you the reader. He decided to approach
the writing style with a concept of letting different people in South Africa
speak their mind on the issue.
The
book has been received differently as it would be expected; some find it to be
painful while other critics find it to be a breath of fresh air with regard to
the approach used in writing the book. Ryland put his journalist skills to good
use by writing a book that is not academic but shows a portion of his
journalistic approach to writing.
What possibilities
are suggested in the book?
Ryland
opens up old wounds of apartheid and the policy of divide and rule comes into
play, he has great respect for Mr. Steven Bantu Biko and how refreshing they
were in making him realise that he is black, and at the time this meant
opposing the apartheid government’s definitions of who he is.
In
his introduction the heading is I am not a racist, but... Ryland says that he
wants to challenge the assumption of the typical racist because he believes
that he is a racist and further believes that people in South Africa are
racist. He further goes to say he says he is a racist because in his entire he
has been groomed to become one.
What has the book
left out what is missing and what would i have added
The
book left out that there might also be a comfort zone of always playing the
victim and not wanting to move to a brighter future as one rainbow nation, the
book does not explain how the past should not be forgotten but to forgive the
oppressors and move on. The book though aimed at being journalist should have
included academic information from analysts, doctors and literature on race and
racism, and how far along we are as a people.
What
the book needs is a an open minded reader who will critically think of what the
author is trying to push through, is this an ideology to numb the pain or a
plan to move on to a brighter future ? The reader is left to decide on this
one. He tries to balance his thoughts but there is a tone of bias as he
stands on the word that he believes that to some extent everyone is racist.
Conclusion
Race
is a burst of fresh air because it thrives on producing a positive and beautiful
rainbow nation that lives on its shores. There is hope though that issues that still need to be tackled, those being of race and racism
will have solutions that everybody will be satisfied with. Here’s to a
beautiful country, independent of the Apartheid era and all it holds.
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