Snap Judgments
On one of the first days of class last semester, we watched a clip of a documentary about the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa. The commission was created shortly after Nelsen Mandela was elected to presidency at the end of the apartheid era in order to take account for the widespread human rights violations that had taken place. The TRC dealt with issues of amnesty and reparations and those involved aimed to bring healing to a nation torn apart by centuries of racism. In the documentary, a white woman showed outrage after the killing of her sister by militant anti-apartheid activists. In spite of the ambitions of some in the TRC to bring peace and reconciliation, the woman strongly wanted those responsible for her sister’s death to be punished. Additionally, the woman seemed unaware of the many government sponsored atrocities that occurred under apartheid such as the killings and torture of many anti-apartheid activists.
After viewing the documentary, many students in our class showed contempt towards the woman for being so unaware of the larger system of oppression that existed in her country. Some students called the woman an “idiot” or similar names and showed no sympathy for the woman’s situation. In many students’ minds, this woman was an oppressor who had done nothing to educate herself and others about the violent apartheid government and could not possibly comprehend the situation of the anti-apartheid activists who had killed her sister. Most importantly, many students asked, how could she not know? And, how could she be so blind as to be completely unaware of the violent and oppressive world in which she lived? Though I did not personally feel contempt towards this woman as many of the other students had, I too asked these questions. However, it was not until I actually visited South Africa and talked to people who had lived through the apartheid era that I understood the answers.
One of the incredibly helpful people that worked to answer my questions was Mary Burton. As a former president of the Black Sash, an anti-apartheid organization made up of primarily white middle-class women, Burton provided a unique perspective. Burton said that during apartheid, it was extremely difficult to find information about what the government was actually doing (unless of course it was being done to you). She said that it was “very easy to be white in South Africa and be completely unaware of what was going on.” Censorship was robust, and even the Black Sash members knew only part of what the government was doing.
Given this environment, it seems far more plausible that white South Africans like the woman in the documentary would be oblivious to so much of the world around them. While this in no way makes their unawareness acceptable, it does make it more understandable, and it helps one to better comprehend the way the oppressive apartheid government operated as a whole. Instead of making a snap judgment about those who were unaware, it is far more helpful to try to understand their unawareness and to see how everyone and everything under apartheid was connected. Though the woman in the documentary may have failed to comprehend the intentions of the TRC, her life and her reaction to her situation and place in South Africa are still important. Rather than dismissing this woman as an “idiot,” I believe that it is imperative to look further and to be a little less reactionary and a little more open to that which we do not fully understand.
-Lauren