Is a Post-racial Society Possible? Lessons from South Africa

by Andrés T. Tapia -

As Invinctus, the inspiring movie about racial reconciliation in South Africa draws in millions of viewers, fifteen years after that country elected Nelson Mandela as its first Black president in a transcendental election with a historical backdrop primarily shaped by racial conflict, what has changed? what hasn’t? What lessons may this hold for the US which had its own transcendental racial moment with the election of Barack Obama in 2008?

Let’s look at some South African poll results first:

• In answering the question “have race relations improved since the end of apartheid”:
  - Yes: 50%
  - No: 31%
  - Gotten worse: 16%
  (Source: Institute for Justice and Reconciliation, Dec. 2009)

Note the bifurcated response.  The 50% is exceptionally good news. Given the horror of apartheid and that most adults today lived through its polarizing effects – either as those dehumanized or as those who benefited from the system – it is remarkable that half the respondents feel race relations have improved.

However, there is still the other half who either does not believe they have improved or in fact believe they have gotten worse.

“Income inequality remains among the worst in the world,” reports the New York Times. 29% of black are unemployed, compared with 5% of whites.

Another marker to add to the case by the half who believe race relations have not improved or have gotten worse, is that a divisive commemoration remains alive and well. It is the Day of the Vow on December 16th, when the Afrikaners, the descendants of the Dutch settlers in South Africa who instituted apartheid, marked a covenant said to be made between their ancestors in God in 1838  that led to the slaughter of 3,000 Zulus.  It is the same day that Blacks had used to commemorate the start of the armed struggle against the apartheid regime.

Given this history, when Mandela was president his government proclaimed December 16th as the Day of Reconciliation, a time for all races to come in together. Despite this,  the Day of the Vow still is celebrated by thousands.

Nevertheless, as a counterpoint, millions now celebrate the Day of Reconciliation throughout South Africa.

Lessons applicable to the US in the Obama Era?

Social change moves like a bell curve along a spectrum of attitudes. The  transformation of racial attitudes does not happen all at once and even as it moves along toward more positive attitudes over time, not all attitudes change. In fact some will harden, But, and this is key, the middle of the bell curve – the mainstream – does move toward greater acceptance and reconciliation. Still, a significant percentage remains entrenched in the legacy racial paradigm.

In addition, turns out that the work of reconciliation is so hard, particularly in the midst of economic challenges, that the transcendental ballot box moment that seemed to hold so much promise for change cannot address structural issues quickly.  As society experiences the differences between transcendence and magic, the disillusionment likely sets in.

It’s what’s happened in South Africa.

The end of apartheid and the election of Nelson Mandela did spur a wave of optimism in the country among a majority of South Africans but over the past 15 years the trend lines of optimism about the future of the country across all racial groups has trended downward as economy growth stagnates and intractable issues of poverty remain. A vast majority, when looking back, still prefer the new new democracy over a nation governed by racial oppression. And a significant percentage of Blacks now are in power positions in government and business they never would have been in under apartheid. But despite the progress and the dismantling of an unsustainable and immoral governing model, the frustration exists that the new has not been more transformative in the lives of ordinary citizens.

Be on the lookout for South Africa and its racial history to be in the news quite a bit as the soccer 2010 World Cup takes place for the first time ever in an African country. It promises to be a boost to South African optimism, but a rolling ball a nation does not transform.

What other lessons do you think South Africa’s racial history has for diversity and inclusion management? How can we embed these concepts into diversity training and strategy?

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