Sharon sense of belonging to the Western Cape civil society

Last Wednesday, instead of heading to the office for work, I went into the city with my supervisor to attend a workshop hosted by the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation and the Foundation for Human Rights. The workshop was on the National Action Plan to Combat Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance and it was held at the Strand Tower Hotel. We learned about National Action Plans in Vernon’s class during the beginning of the semester, so it was exciting for me to experience first hand, how they are written and evaluated by the community and civil society.

The workshop started with a welcoming address and introduction. I found that many of the local NGOs and social service agencies that the CTRC works with, such as Agency for Refugee Education, Skills Training & Advocacy (Aresta) and People Against Suffering Oppression and Poverty (PASSOP), were also in attendance. It was cool to meet so many admirable individuals dedicating their lives by working in the social sector. The next on the agenda was a keynote address, delivered by Professor Pierre De Vos from the University of Cape Town. His talk was absolutely amazing!! It was my favorite part of the program. Many points he discussed I learned in Marita’s class such as white privilege and the idea of colorblindness in the post apartheid society, which is a concept dealing with wishful thinking. The idea that we shouldn’t worry about racism because it does not exist- “there is no such thing as racism” so we should stop seeing what is irrelevant. After the address, I was able to bring up what I learned in class and talk about the fact that being white does make one invisible and also the article “White privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack.” I also discussed the similarities between the United States and South Africa in terms of racism.

Next, a speaker from the Department of Justice gave an overview of the National Action Plan process and the history of the document. In 2001, South African hosted the World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Related Intolerance in Durban. The conference adopted the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action (DDPA), which mandated states to implement national policies to combat racism. It was a great feat for the international community and it served as the framework for the South African NAP.

We were then broken off into smaller groups to discuss possible critical improvements the Department of Justice can carry out within the Draft NAP document. However, none of the participants were given the document prior to the conference, which seriously undermined the objective of the conference. Personally, I had no idea that this substantial document was in the making, so I was disappointed that I could not make any valuable contribution to the group discussion due to my lack of knowledge. Although I felt inhibited, I did appreciate this opportunity to meet others working to create sustainable social change. Even though I was an intern, the conference participants treated me with much respect and empowered me by giving me a voice. Whenever I spoke, everyone listened attentively and I felt a sense of belonging to the Western Cape civil society camaraderie.