In our own skins: A Political History of the Coloured People, by Richard van der Ross

A Political History of the Coloured People, by Richard van der Ross. Jonathan Ball Publishers, Johannesburg; Cape Town, South Africa 2014. ISBN 9781868426676 / ISBN 978-1-86842-667-6

A Political History of the Coloured People, by Richard van der Ross. Jonathan Ball Publishers, Johannesburg; Cape Town, South Africa 2014. ISBN 9781868426676 / ISBN 978-1-86842-667-6

To write, like Richard van der Ross does in 'In our own Skins', about the Coloured people and their distinct political history is, and has always been, a controversial matter in South Africa, but also in other heterogeneous countries such as the USA.

Richard van der Ross  

A. M. Schlesinger Jr quotes WEB Du Bois, the West African-born scholar and activist, who observed in 1900 that '[t]he problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line'. This prediction came into full flower in the global revolt against racism in the 21st century. De Tocqueville, quoted in Volume 1 of Bryce's epic The American Common-wealth, explained long ago that oppression is '[pjatiently endured so long as it seemed beyond redress, a grievance comes to appear intolerable once the possibility of removing it crosses men's minds, for the mere fact that certain abuses have been remedied draws attention to the others [...]'. There is, indeed, importance in focusing on such moments in the history of South Africa and also in the life and times of the Coloured people, as long as we remain aware - as the author points out - that the Coloured people on their own constitute neither a nation nor a race. They are, however, a group with a distinct socioeconomic experience and a history of resistance to racism and efforts by colonialists and the post-colonial government to afford them a political status. The resistance to colour oppression also entailed a conscious non-acceptance of self-consciousness, inferiority and being given a separate political status as Coloured people.Van der Ross is, as the Americans would say, completely comfortable in his own skin. He is, in his general demeanour and social conduct, in many ways a very good example of a non-racialist, yet strongly identifies with the Coloured people - our broader habits, culture, history and world view. His reference to the Coloured people is usually in the first person plural. What is particularly valuable in his historic account is that he has been so central to every episode in the modern travails of the Coloured people. In fact, his role was already widely recognised in the early 1950s when the Congress movement, which consisted of colour-based units, came into action. Of particular interest are the discussions that Van der Ross had - at Nelson Mandela's request, as representative of the Coloured Convention Planning Committee in 1962 - about the ANC's planned uprising against apartheid laws and the role Mandela saw for the Coloured people in this uprising. Of significance is the way in which teachers' associations became the voice of Coloured political expression and how the internal tensions within the group played out within the Teachers' League of South Africa. Even after the League split in 1944, race-based government policies were consistently opposed, though in different ways, languages and styles. In the 1970s, it was - once again - Coloured teachers who, in the Cape Teachers' Professional Association, became politicised and organised themselves to resist apartheid in general and apartheid education in particular, and continued to play their significant part in the struggle for a diverse yet united democracy. At the same time, some churches - especially my church, the Dutch Reformed Mission Church under Dr Allan Boesak - became an open and forceful voice against racism and apartheid. These were not the Coloured organisations to continue the struggle that had started long ago and that had encountered fierce suppression at the time. Historically significant events, such as the Peace of Vereeniging and the formation of the Union of South Africa in 1910, led to unprecedented political awakening among black people in general.

(Dr. Franklin Sonn)

This is an excerpt from the book In our own skins: A Political History of the Coloured People, by Richard van der Ross.

Title: In our own skins
Subtitle: A Political History of the Coloured People
Author: Richard van der Ross
Genre: South African society and politics
Publisher: Jonathan Ball Publishers
Johannesburg; Cape Town, South Africa 2015
ISBN 9781868426676 / ISBN 978-1-86842-667-6
Softcover, 16 x 24 cm, 216 pages

van der Ross, Richard im Namibiana-Buchangebot

In our own skins: A Political History of the Coloured People

In our own skins: A Political History of the Coloured People

In Our Own Skins is the extraordinary record of the political history of the Coloured People of South Africa.