Essay Sample about Eurocentrism in South Africa

Eurocentrism is a subset of the wide-ranging phenomenon of ethnocentrism. The ideology that one’s own ethnic group or society is superior to others is commonly known as ethnocentrism. This said group would then evaluate and judge other groups according to the evaluation standards of their own particular group. Eurocentrism can thus easily be defined as an ideology style in which the assessment and evaluation of non-European societies are expressed in terms of Europeans and, by extension, the Western cultural assumptions, and biases. Eurocentrism is a modern phenomenon that cannot be separated from Europe’s and later the United states’ political, economic, and cultural  dominance. It might be more accurate to call the phenomenon being discussed Euroamericentrism, which is an important factor  and contributor to Capitalism. It is manifested in the daily lives of ordinary people. Post-colonial South Africa is deeply entrenched in the curse of Eurocentrism and we have yet to discover something called self-love.

“The White Man’s Burden”, a term coined by white/settler colonisers who felt that it was their obligatory duty to impose their Western, what they termed civilization on black inhabitants of countries they colonised. It just so happened that they gained remarkably from this exercise to the detriment of the indigenous people who still bear the brunt of this today. In essence the major contradiction lies heavily embedded in the fact that Eurocentrism is actually a backward culture because it is based on exploitation and oppression and not meant to develop but to destroy. A progressive culture promotes the establishing of one’s own humanity and promotes growth, development, and harmony.

In south Africa we are  currently still faced with the injurious effects of the legacy left by Colonialism and apartheid today. In order to get a bird’s eye view of the actual reality in post-colonial South Africa today, we have to firstly bear in mind that the state and government are two different entities. The  government  is merely a means through which the state is employed. The majority does not have the economic power in South Africa. There has been no genuine redistribution of wealth. We have to go back to 1994 to what seemed on the surface to be the first democratic elections in South Africa. In reality it was a ploy to portray a picture of Africans being purposeless, unproductive, and unprofitable. It was more like a handover to an incompetent African National Congress who had no formal training as to how a country should be run. A negotiated settlement occurred where the ANC was  totally outwitted and hence the so-called elections which leads to the way South Africa is run today.

When I attended school which is many moons ago, I can remember without a doubt that the prettiest girl was always the one whose hair colour was the closest to blonde and whose eyes were the closest to blue. That is how we were indoctrinated and in post-colonial South Africa it is no different. An indigenous Miss Universe, Zozibini Tunzi’s said when crowned, “I grew up in a world where a woman who looks like me, with my kind of skin and my kind of hair, was never considered to be beautiful, I think that it is time that this stops today”(Chisholm 2019) Some of us just have a little more to spend. I very rarely see an African woman with her natural hair, its either braids or straightened. The indoctrination is still clearly visible. When perusing my own social world, I see no evidence of this freedom that numerous individuals allude to. It is especially mystifying to comprehend how someone can think they are free when their dwelling is a shack. I am of the firm opinion that one is free when one is economically free. I stay in Table -view close to Blaauwberg beach and when I walk on the beach the houses closest to the beach are still owned by the settlers and their old money is still being redistributed among each other via inheritance and other means. My partner is a settler and he sometimes says things like, “ Look how full the beach is now that we have allowed everybody to use it as if it were his father’s  beach. That indoctrination is still deeply embedded in South African society. There is that undeniable perception created with colonialism that everything that comes from Europe and America is better. It’s as if our own heritage and looks and everything relevant to us is dull in comparison and is never going to be acceptable to us as we were indoctrinated to believe that we were less than our European counterparts.

Because there has been no real redistribution of wealth, the settlers who have more money have better access to health care as they can afford medical aid. Their children have access to education and when someone has access to everything that someone else does not have access to it is easy to fall into a trap of emulating the one that has everything enabling one to continue to on the road of amnesia about our own identity.

As the indigenous people of this country, a dire need exists for us to develop a love for our heritage and break the curse of the colonial indoctrination.  A serious eradication of the low self-esteem and dysfunction created by the colonists needs to occur. We essentially need to evolve and reinvent ourselves with love and appreciation for our own rich cultural heritage and most of all we need to exert all efforts in breaking the vile curse of Eurocentrism.

Chisholm, Jamiyla N. 2019. “Miss Universe Zozibini Tunzi Continues Black Beauty’s Reign over the Pageant World.” Colourlines, December 11. Accessed on 2 January 2020. https://www.colorlines.com/articles/miss-universe-zozibini-tunzi-continues-black-beautysreign-over-pageant-world

Ngũgĩ wa Thiongʼo. 1986. Decolonising the Mind: The Politics of Language in African Literature. Studies in African Literature. London: J. Currey Serequeberhan. 2002. Critique of Eurocentrism Spring, J. 2000. “Choice.” In Knowledge and Power in the Global Economy: Politics and the Rhetoric of School Reform, edited by D. Gabbard, 25–32. Mahwah, NJ.