Xenophobia In South Africa

The convergence of racial unity and inroads towards the non-classification of race has been compromised by the accumulation of rights, privileges, and perceptions of the “whites”, and the life experiences, inequalities and societal impediments of the ‘non-white”. These experiences represent an overarching inability to forge ahead without cognizant realizations of past injustices and reparation for past aggressions. Noting the attempts at racial reunification in South Africa and the redress of exclusionary policies existing within the

Believe it or not, there are countries today that struggle with xenophobia, which is the intense or irrational dislike or fear of people from other countries. I bet you didn't know it is one of South Africa's biggest current issues.

Racism means discrimination or prejudice against someone due to their race, religion or ethnicity. People feeling superior upon a minority results in discrimination towards that minority, and it can be done verbally using racial slurs targeted at that group or physically and that is all because of their race or religion. Consequently, situations like these can spread hate and divides people into groups. Racism can be seen in social situations and political issues; therefore, these issues may lead to segregation, apartheid, and xenophobia. This is a pivotal issue; however, various effective measures can be implemented to resolve this critical problem.

Many of the contemporary issues in South Africa can easily be associated with the apartheid laws which devastated the country. The people of South Africa struggle day by day to reverse “the most cruel, yet well-crafted,” horrific tactic “of social engineering.” The concept behind apartheid emerged in 1948 when the nationalist party took over government, and the all-white government enforced “racial segregation under a system of legislation” . The central issues stem from 50 years of apartheid include poverty, income inequality, land ownership rates and many other long term affects that still plague the brunt of the South African population while the small white minority still enjoy much of the wealth, most of the land and opportunities

Since the colonisation of South Africa by the Dutch in the 17th, century, the consolidation of the influence of the whites remained a prominent element of Afrikaner culture until its formal cessation in 1994 (United States Department of State nd). The election of the ‘purified’ National Party in 1948 distinguished the enforcement of aggressive policies in an effort to maintain white supremacy in South Africa. This system of institutionalised racial segregation was labelled ‘apartheid’, an Afrikaans word meaning “the state of being apart” (BlackPast nd). The apartheid system created a society of enormous oppression for non-white South Africans during the Nationalist Party’s era of sovereignty.

According to Xenophobia and Violence in South Africa (2008) the reasons for the attacks differ and they include:

Throughout the years xenophobia has been a plague that has ravaged the lives of many foreign nationals in South Africa for years. During April of 2015 the wave of brutal action again made the cover of the news as it started in KwaZulu-Natal and eventually managed to spread through to other parts of South Africa like Gauteng and Durban. In the following essay I will be doing a literature review of the meaning of and social consequences of xenophobia. I will also look at the social impact of xenophobia on both local and foreign people and to finish up my essay, I will give a detailed summarised report of my findings.

The political statements and deportation policy of foreigners by the South African government is one of the causes of xenophobia. Politicians and government have often made provocative statements that the influx of migrants in the country is responsible for the current crime wave, rising unemployment, or even the spread of diseases and this is why the South African borders have been remilitarized (Duponch, 2009). 125 Nigerians were deported 2012 for possessing fake yellow fever vaccination. Undocumented migrants and refugees from African countries are painted as a security risk akin to terrorism and organized

The U.S. and Mexico share a border wall that extends approximately two thousand miles along the southern border states of California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. It’s a place where two cultures contrast between each other and where people worker out everyday accommodations to these cultures. Border everywhere attracts violence, violence attracts fences and fences mutate into walls. The wall that separates the United States and Mexico prompts divided feelings of offense on one side yet comfort of the other. And this relationship remains expanding. We seem to love walls but are embarrassed by them because they say something unpleasant about the neighbors and us. In the Border Dynamics sculpture by Guadalupe Serrano, this piece exhibits the relationship of the U.S and Mexico; the individuals on one side are trying to

There is approximately 46.6 million immigrants in the United States. Immigration is considered to be a worldwide issue, but the real problem is xenophobia. Xenophobia is an intense, fearful, or irrational dislike of people from other countries. The United States has a history of discriminating against these minorities. It started as early as 1619 when the first slaves from Africa were brought to America. It has become part of American culture to fear any immigrants and to only trust those from white, European descent. This factor is keeping the United States from achieving its maximum potential. One of the greatest obstacles that prevents the USA from becoming a Utopia is its Xenophobic outlook.

Prior to apartheid control, white supremacy and racial segregation was prime in South Africa and was greatly intensified thereafter. The vulnerable social and economic

The various social issues present within today’s society inevitably lead to the creation of injustices and oppression faced by many individuals. While many social justice issues focus on large groups of people, such as the impoverished and homeless, others affect specific groups or cultures of people, revealing a prejudice against that group. In the United States, a history of xenophobia has contributed to the discrimination of certain ethnic groups, including the internment of Japanese-Americans in World War II and immigration laws against Soviets during the Cold War. These prejudices are often a result of fear, the main cause of America’s most recent practice of xenophobia: Islamophobia.

The tenets of citizenship and the nation have been reconstructed on a narrow, privileged, and nationalistic basis, with a pernicious atmosphere being created, particularly through immigration policies and the enforcement of an “exclusive” South Africa, creating the conditions for xenophobia to take root. State institutions have been centrally involved in the abuse of foreign migrants, from illegal arrests, renditions, torture, racial profiling, destruction of immigration documents and general abuse (Amandla.org.za, 2015)

This essay serves as a platform to dispute the causes of the Xenophobia attacks that arose in South Africa not so long ago. According to the paper on the Analysis of the Causes, Effects and Ramifications of Xenophobia in South Africa, xenophobia is defined as a crime against humanity that involves aspects such as dislike, fear, distrust or intolerance of foreigners, often expressed in terms of hostilities towards the outsiders (Evans & Newnham, 1998: p.583). Nel (2005), classifies it as a ‘hate crime’, defined as the extreme expression of prejudice through violent criminal acts committed against people, property, or even organizations, either because of the group to which they belong or with which they identify (p.241). This has become an era where the world is increasingly becoming a global village each day and globalisation surpasses national boundaries, the inflow (migration) of migrants into other countries has increased. South Africa, with a leading

Contemporary South Africans have to contend with both the outcomes of past racial injustices and inequalities as well as present day racial injustices and inequalities which are a direct consequence of the past (Matthews, 2012). This means that they have to face the continuing effects of socially constructed racism which encompassed economic, political, social and institutional actions that systemized and perpetuated unequal distribution of privileges, resources and power between white people and people of colour with a hierarchical motive in mind (DiAngelo, 2010, p.7). It also refers to the fact that the repeal of racist legislature does not automatically result in changes in the habits and attitudes of people and that the “inertial racism of white predominance” continues at advantage white people at both micro and macro levels (Outlaw, 2004, p. 166 in Matthews, 2012). Obvious responses to these past and present injustices are anti-racism movements which encourage people to challenge beliefs about themselves or the ‘other’ groups (hooks, 1997, p. 167). Anti-racism includes thinking and acting with a specific consciousness, self-awareness, knowledge and skill to challenge, interrupt, and eliminate manifestations of racism within one’s sphere of influence (Derman-Sparks & Brunson Phillips, 1997). White anti-racism involves, amongst other things, white people being against the racial denigration of other groups and unlearning internalized domination (DiAngelo, 2006).