Surrendering those countries to black rule is tantamount to hiring children to maintain a household merely for the reason they outnumber the parents. — FR, EAU
by Gunnar Theissen
White post-apartheid myths: “We have always been against apartheid”
This chapter provides historical information about the degree of support by the white electorate for apartheid, thus providing further evidence by which to judge the extent of collective responsibility for the previous regime and its human rights violations. The chapter also describes white attitude change during the last 10 years, and considers its implications for the establishment of a culture of human rights.
3.1 Reasons for the Denial of Support for Apartheid
The fact that nobody today wants to admit to having supported apartheid is in some ways a positive sign, demonstrating that the majority of white South Africans no longer wish to identify with apartheid. However, while the rejection of apartheid could be an indicator of a growing disapproval of the previous political system among white South Africans, it also contains a dangerous component, namely a denial of responsibility for the past, because it is no longer socially acceptable to be seen to have supported the system. “I have never supported apartheid” is a statement which reflects the understandable desire to deny individual and collective responsibility for apartheid, to forget about the past, and to be in touch with the ‘new’ South Africa. Admitting responsibility could result in feelings of guilt and a need to question the economic and cultural privileges white South Africans still enjoy. It could also result in social contempt by the majority and by those now positions of power. The fact that denying responsibility is easier than admitting it creates the danger that prejudices are maintained, undemocratic and unjust structures from the past are implicitly justified and there is no empathy for fellow citizens who suffered.
Another form of response to apartheid is to alleviate a sense of responsibility about the past by comparing one’s apparent lack of involvement in abuse or repression to those who actively abused – in other words to see it as a question of degree. One way of understanding this is through what Miller and Ross (1975) refer to as the fundamental attribution error. They argue that if people are successful in any way, they attribute the success to their own efforts and personality, whereas if people fail or do something wrong, they are more likely to blame external factors, minimising their own responsibility for the failure. Although this may save one temporarily from feelings of personal failure, the political and social dimensions are far more complex. Despite socialisation, learned prejudices and very effective indoctrination, white South Africans still had the freedom to make decisions about their political beliefs and actions.