RACIALIZATION AND DISPOSITION

Racialization and Disposition
Social Psychologist Don Foster and Melissa Steyn made very good points in regards of racialization and disposition. Don Foster goes to say that “race” is a myth that everyone uses to categorize groups of people however there is no scientific explanation to determine what skin color is A, B, or C; along with the notion of whose skin color has higher standards than the next. It is the social name blame that we stigmatize and labels others without using accurate meaning-the myth of skin color. He details and outlines chronological and imperative dates that “tell” stories of how and why racialization became the problem. In 1652 the Europeans-or whitties as Don would say, came and invaded South Africa and structured slavery of Africans. Along these lines, one could infer and agree that violence occurred, Moreover, sexual violence. African women were raped, abused, and “forced” to reproduce babies for more slaves. This entails that A, B, or C “blood” has been mixed throughout and dictated by how light or how dark a person is. With this observation, we all may be black-some disagree and some may agree. However, race is racialized and is a social constructed in society. This illustrates a complicated picture of the system of race discriminates among the “others” who are not white. Speaking of political terms, there is a race hierarchy that determines a race status such as: European, Coloured (mixed), and Indians, than Africans with the worst treatment than any other group. In that order distinguishes the good and the bad people. But, as a whole nation in general, whites only make up 8% of the population and Africans/Blacks make up 80%. This is ten times the amount of white people which shows how systematically race has been colonized. Therefore, with the racialized system brings forth the colonization of Blacks through class. Now a system of class status plays a major role in the nation depriving Black groups from privilege and opportunities.
Melissa Steyn goes further more to talk about how “disposition” can be detrimental for one’s life. She explains a little bit about how she grew up during the Apart-heid era and how segregation played benefactors and disadvantages in roles of white and Black people. The “reality” of her life during this time consisted of being the beneficiary of white privilege. It was natural for whites to live a life of no worries because their privilege was so concrete and exclusive, it automatically made them superiors over all others. It was to the point that a society constructed a country that literally divided and spaced out white and the others through highways, houses, provinces, identification cards, gates etc. Any entity or area was claimed by whites and continued to use informal segregation to dissimilate the inferiors. I also like the way she pointed out that South Africa is a “Non Contact” society in fact it cut off Blacks as citizens. This demonstrates a good point that actually Mr. Foster speaks of as Racial Harmony; in essence the have and have not’s. There is a clear distinction of wealth vs. poverty also who actually recognizing the disparity; which is Black Africans.
With this information I think about who really is in a “DISPOSITION”-the white people or the Black people? Socially we would say that it is the Black people because of the disadvantages and underrepresentation of them, but in this theory, I attempt to help visualize that white people to the extent are in this disposition because their “position” really reflects how one has to socialize and become powerful to attack or invade another’s humanity. This inconsideration and negligence to socialize and stigmatize hurts the nation and the natives when in reality it was not their fault to begin with. “WALK IN THE SHOES OF THE OPPRESSED”