If any group of
Africans should understand the sting of racially charged violence, it should be
South Africans. While violence has been and continues to remain a common theme in
most African societies the Africans on the southern most tip of the continent
not too long ago were victims of the most oppressive form of aggression,
relegated to living in abject poverty in shanty towns in a country they fully
owned. In the last few weeks pictures, videos and personal accounts of
xenophobic attacks by South Africans on other African immigrants in the country
has made me wonder if South African history books have taken out accounts of
apartheid or if South Africans are just suffering from a severe form of
amnesia. The murders in the country of other African immigrants can almost be
likened to Israelis killing immigrants in their country forgetting what they once
suffered at the hands of Adolf Hitler.
Immigrant
tensions are not new and years ago, flaring tensions in Nigeria caused then
president Shehu Shagari to order immigrants in the country, most of them
Ghanaian to leave prompting a mass exodus of Ghanaians and other immigrants
creating rife hostility and bitterness. While I am not privy to any studies on
the economic state of the residents post the exodus, I can almost argue that
the life of the average Nigerian was not improved by sending their fellow West
African neighbors home, if anything a dearth must have been created as
teachers, seamstresses, store owners and other business owners fled. The
situation then could have been handled better and most certainly, South
Africans can come up with solutions to address the burden immigrants have
placed on their country and resources that do not include brutal attacks and
murders.
Undoubtedly, as
a continent, Africa is tremendously resource rich, however, it is no secret
that the majority of Africans in almost every country live in quite deplorable
conditions, victims of corrupt governments. Another known fact is that
countries that seem to be doing relatively well are typically burdened by the
influx of immigrants seeking better living and working conditions. Over time,
for countries that are thus burdened with a heavy migrant population, it is inevitable
that conflicts will arise as the citizens and legal residents of the host
country struggle for what few resources there are. It might be frustrating when
the residents feel that they cannot measure up either because the immigrant
population is more educated or more financially secure, while they live on the
margins unsure of their daily sustenance. But in spite of the arguments against
the immigrants there are more civil ways to address immigration issues and
violence of any form does not belong on that list.
But a number of
South Africans have concluded that the only way to rid their country of the
immigrants they have come to view as a nuisance is by staging attacks against
them. It is interesting to note that besides African immigrants making a living
in South Africa, there are immigrants from a host of other countries, with
scores of Chinese immigrants leading the ranks, but there are no accounts of
attacks against immigrants that are from without the continent. In my mind, the
explanation as to why only Africans are targeted seems rather simple but
complex at the same time. I can almost assume that non-African immigrants who
are indeed prospering are viewed as deserving of their success because there is
an arbitrary hierarchical system and already, South Africans perceive them as
better than they. Thus, since they are better it only follows that their
success should not be seen as a threat. On the other hand though, other
Africans are not viewed as deserving, after all, they are just as black and
perhaps seen as inferior and why should their perceived success be permitted
when black South Africans cannot seem to get ahead?
While my
argument might be flawed, there is a great deal of truth to it. The success of
groups perceived as deserving or unfamiliar can sometimes be dismissed, but
then when it seems as though those who are succeeding share some commonalities,
their success then is perceived as a threat when in reality it might not be.
Unfortunately, South Africans in their attempt to rid their country of other
African immigrants are wrong in their logic and are making an already bad
situation even worse. Interestingly, when a group has been marginalized for
long periods and oppressed their views on perceived threats seems to become
warped. Rwanda and the events leading up to the genocide is a marked example
and now South Africans are joining the trend. If South Africans learned any
lessons from being oppressed under the system of apartheid, those lessons have collectively
been discarded and the scars might have been replaced with grafts as the
oppressed have now become the oppressors.
