If whiteness can’t be unlearned then black oppression is permanent.
There have been other less progressive arguments resulting from Schutte’s article. One in particular posed by Andile Mngxitama and Athi-Nangamso Esther Nkopo in “There’s no unlearning whiteness, despite what “anti-racists” say”, holds a very regressive and somewhat contradictory argument that white people cannot engage (even among themselves) in critical dialogue about the race question because as inherent beneficiaries of white racism, any contributions that they make are bound to be an affront to the black struggle against the conditions created by the very existence of whiteness.
The two “Black Consciousness activists” argue Schutte’s article is reflective of her “liberal” agenda, which seeks to neutralise the race discourse by taking on a paternalistic approach. They go on to argue that Schutte’s appeals to the white community end with the acknowledgement of their guilt without really giving constructive solutions on how to dismantle and obliterate the structural and institutionalised white racist realities that have been entrenched by centuries of colonialism and apartheid. The issue of Schutte being married to a black man and having a mixed child also receives mention but because such arguments that seek to attack a person rather than an idea must never be dignified with a response, I will not delve into it, only focus on the former.
Related articles
- White Parents Outraged by Course That Teaches Students About Systemic Racism | Your Black World (habariganiamerica.com)
- Racism alive and ignored, activist tells Charlotte audience (newsobserver.com)
- South Africa: let’s talk about race (guardian.co.uk)
- Analysis: Measuring racial hatred, one murder at a time (dailymaverick.co.za)
