<html><div>ANTI-RACISM CONFERENCE OPENS WITH QUESTIONS ON POVERTY</div>
<br>
<div>By- Miuru Jayaweera</div>
<div>A program producer for Young Asia Television, is a member of the
WCAR </div>
<div>Women’s Media Team of Isis International-manila.</div>
<br>
<div>Durban- 28.08.2001</div>
<br>
<div>As the preparations for the United Nations World Conference against
Racism, </div>
<div>Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and other related intolerance
(WCAR) took </div>
<div>Durban, the east coast resort of South Africa, a number of local
leftist </div>
<div>groups are getting together to resist the effects of capitalist
</div>
<div>globalisation on South Africa. A two-day strike coinciding with the
opening </div>
<div>of the conference on September 1 has been called, alongside, by
major trade </div>
<div>unions, to protest privatization.</div>
<br>
<div>Also known as ‘Izwe Labantu’ in Afrikaans, the Independent Media
Center </div>
<div>(IMC or Indy-Media), which is holding daily press briefings at the
WCAR, </div>
<div>emphasized the need to highlight poverty and the relationship of
rascist </div>
<div>and other forms of discrimination to poverty, rather than rascism
per se. </div>
<div>The IMC is also screening information videos and films, and
coordinating </div>
<div>all planned protests and demonstrations at the conference.</div>
<br>
<div>Indy-Media, supported by various South African groups, including the
</div>
<div>Anti-Privatisation Forum, the Jubilee Movement, the National Land
Committee </div>
<div>and the South African National NGO Coalition (Sangoco), held its
inaugural </div>
<div>press meet on 27 August at the famous Kingsmead Cricket Stadium, on
an </div>
<div>ironically worded theme eight years after the end of apartheid: ‘Why
are </div>
<div>black people taking to the streets?’</div>
<br>
<div>The answer, of course, is poverty and the government’s privatization
</div>
<div>attempts. Virginia Setshedi of the Soweto Electricity Crisis
Commission, </div>
<div>one of the main speakers at the meet, said categorically, “Racism is
in a </div>
<div>far distance compared to the poverty rate in South Africa.”</div>
<br>
<div>The unequal distribution of basic needs and the fact that a lot of
people </div>
<div>have no access to clean water and reliable electricity have
triggered </div>
<div>grassroots organizations to look at this conference in a not very
</div>
<div>optimistic way. As a recent piece for HYPE Information Service by
Dennis </div>
<div>Brutus and Ben Cashdan comments on te “irony” of the ANC government
</div>
<div>“hosting a world conference against rascism in a city where the
majority </div>
<div>are black and poor … [living] on hillsides surrounding the [oil and
</div>
<div>chemical] plants … inhaling noxious fumes … and eight times more
likely … </div>
<div>to get asthma, bronchitis and leukemia … and a minority, mostly
still </div>
<div>white, continues to enjoy the spoils of the economy.”</div>
<br>
<div>The audience largely agreed with another panelist, who said that
rascism </div>
<div>and poverty cannot be separated and are inter-connected. Many
expressed the </div>
<div>opinion that rascism is a globalised process and has, over the
years, </div>
<div>become organized and institutionalized, supported frequently by
law.</div>
<br>
<div>With political topics yo-yoing between the panel and the audience,
the </div>
<div>discussion focused on the South African government’s policies with
regard </div>
<div>to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, and the
</div>
<div>constitutional provisions regarding private property.</div>
<br>
<div>Speakers also criticized the dogmatic stand of the USA in opposing
</div>
<div>reparations to victims of colonialism.</div>
<br>
<div>The WCAR, which took 18 months to prepare, will see 7,000
international </div>
<div>delegates pass resolutions on the hopes and aspirations of several
</div>
<div>segregated racial groups. However, issues of the Dalits in India,
Buraku </div>
<div>Min in Japan, the Romas in Europe and the Palestinians in West Asia,
hang </div>
<div>in the balance of powerful opposition, mainly from local
governments.</div>
<br>
<div>Miuru Jayaweera, a program producer for Young Asia Television, is a
member </div>
<div>of the WCAR Women’s Media Team of Isis International-manila.</div>
<br>
<br>
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<br>
<font face="Calligraph421 BT">==================================<br>
Helen Leonard<br>
Convenor, National Women's Media Centre<br>
nwmc@ozemail.com.au <br>
PO Box 123, Civic Square ACT 2608<br>
Ph/fax 02 6257 0670<br>
Mobile 0417 499 387<br>
<a href="http://www.nwmc.org.au/" eudora="autourl">http://www.nwmc.org.au</a>
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