Chris Thurman: Changing of hearts, minds a difficult road indeed

THIS festive season‚ I took a break not just from writing about art‚ but also from being a consumer in the art market. Instead‚ there were books‚ there was music‚ there was even an outing to one of those ancient cathedrals of popcorn and eye candy – a movie theatre multiplex. There is something decidedly old-fashioned about “going to the movies”. People have been foretelling the end of cinema houses for years. I‚ for one‚ hope they are wrong. A big movie screen is the canvas on which (setting aside computer-generated imagery) a gifted director and cinematographer can paint scenes that almost do justice to the kinds of vistas I described above. I was reminded of this while watching A Walk in the Woods‚ a film based on Bill Bryson’s book about his bid to hike the Appalachian Trail. Accompanied by an eccentric old friend‚ Stephen Katz (Nick Nolte)‚ Bryson (Robert Redford) makes it about halfway along the 3 218km route before deciding to quit. The journey is undertaken on a whim‚ the impulse of a belated mid-life crisis – having reached the age in which his friends start dying of strokes and heart attacks‚ Bryson finds himself restless‚ with a mild case of writer’s block and in need of a new adventure. It ends when he reconciles himself to the fact that he may be a celebrated author but is not‚ in the great scheme of things‚ really that important. Realising that it is enough to be alive and well-off and healthy‚ to be happily curious in this complex world‚ to be in love with his wife of 40 years‚ Bryson calls off the quest. Watching A Walk in the Woods amid the furores over Penny Sparrow’s Facebook post and Chris Hart’s tweet‚ and then sharing in the delight about Temba Bavuma’s century in the test against England at Newlands‚ and recalling what seem like a hundred conversations (over social media and in person) since I last wrote about race and politics‚ it seemed to me that Bryson’s epiphany may be of value to white South Africans.

Much of the controversy in the #PennySparrow affair has hinged on the question of whether this dim-witted realtor is an outlier – one of relatively few exhibitors of ugly and clumsy racism – or is actually a representative of widely and commonly held views among white people. This is difficult to establish. It is also‚ however‚ of secondary importance. Individual opinions and collective bigotries are one thing‚ but the more significant point is that racism is economically embedded and institutionalised in this country. Hearts and minds can only be changed in the longer-term if material circumstances change fundamentally. The privilege of white South Africans includes not only social and economic capital‚ but also educational advantage and easier access to various international networks. These latter two factors have made their – sorry‚ our – prominence in some sectors understandable‚ even justifiable. But let’s not beat around the bush; for SA to work in 10‚ 20 or 30 years’ time – for our country to come close to something we might call “normal”‚ white people need to become increasingly marginal and‚ indeed‚ irrelevant. It should‚ arguably‚ become unusual to see a white batsman scoring a century for the national cricket team. Heck‚ it should probably also become unusual for a white guy to be a columnist.