Accusing somebody of being racist can sometimes be similar to meting out mob justice to an innocent person.
In my Hillbrow days some 10 years ago, I used to walk the streets from Ponte to Constitutional Hill always wondering how safe people felt there. It was only during a local walking tour that I came to learn about the concept of “vimba”.
It was not just a signal to the community though. It was a justification. The community, which had been plagued by crime and become so desperate to stop, started believing that to stop crime, a mere accusation was enough to warrant the beating of the suspect. I say “beating” knowing that many have witnessed more horrific conclusions.
Of course, it’s a dumb idea and one that isn’t sustainable in a civil society. Of course, taking the law into one’s own hands omits important checks and balances. If it did work, that would be great. You know what happens when we disregard our checks and balances? We open our world to abuse.I have no doubt that vimba has been called on innocent people to settle an unrelated score.
In our society, beleaguered by racism, you can similarly understand why some would feel empowered and even justified to call it out based on suspicion alone. It’s an important action to rid our society of. Today’s problem is that we can’t even agree on what racism really is. The old school stuff was easy to call out; don’t have separate doors for different race groups.
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