It is known that the prejudice (bias) is attitude which prevents adequate perception of the message or action. Usually a person does not realize or does not want to recognize his prejudice and considers his relation to the object of prejudice as a result of objective and independent evaluation. Prejudice can be a consequence of hasty and unfounded conclusions based on personal experience (social stereotype), as well as the result of uncritical assimilation of standardized judgments adopted in a particular social group (prejudice). It is often used to justify misdeeds.
Carol Adja and Gabriella Lazaridis in their article Migration, Xenophobia and New Racism in Post-Apartheid South Africa, published in 2013 in International Journal of Social Science Studies, show bright example, how “South African citizens exhibit high levels of xenophobia towards fellow African citizens, subjecting them to different forms of prejudice and discrimination” (Adja & Lazaridis, 2013, P. 192).
Based on statistical data and fieldwork, the authors consider xenophobia the new racism. Fieldwork was conducted in four research trips to South Africa, each trip had two-month durations. Data were collected from interviews, along with policy initiatives and relevant official statements, and speeches made on websites of migrant non-governmental organizations, and also in newspaper articles and press releases. The collected data were compared to those data which were obtained in surveys conducted by different NGOs and in frames of some programs - the Forced Migration Studies Program, Southern African Migration Project, Institute for Democracy in South Africa, Human Rights Watch, etc.
Unemployment in South Africa is more than in 25%, and a periodic burst of negative social emotions to the multimillion group of guest workers is a natural reflex in post-apartheid period, especially in industrial areas and among the most numerous tribe - the Zulus. Official statistics of crimes against migrants and whites does not reflect the whole picture of the violence. Many victims do not report the attacks because they are afraid of becoming victims of police. People still remember the events of 1998, when the South African law enforcement officers lowered dogs on Mozambican migrants and dropped foreigners from trains on the run. There is information about the genocide of the white population, mass violence and terror. Whites suffer from the new regime more, but Black's position also deteriorated sharply. Life expectancy at them for the last fifteen years has fallen by ten years.
The average income of the population is close to the lower boundary of average world index. On the whole, the economic situation of society is extremely unstable. About 15% of the population live in the best conditions, while 50% live in abject poverty, which may well be compared with the situation in the poorest countries of the world. Not all residents have electricity and water supply and poor sanitation in many settlements contribute to the spread of various diseases. Such sharp contrasts result in a tense social situation. In terms of crime South African is one of the first in the world. In general crime flourishes in poor areas. Everyday racism and violence against migrants is observed in South Africa.
Considering the cultural differences in thinking, opinions, attitudes and behavior, it is easy to succumb to cognitive and emotional reactions to the material, begin to generalize, to form negative stereotypes about other people, and even in advance to make a judgment about these differences and people, to whom such behavior is inherent, in before real understanding what lies at its core. These processes and reactions are common in today's world, and their descriptions often use terms like ethnocentrism, stereotypes, prejudice, discrimination. Unfortunately, these terms are often used without a clear idea about them that only exacerbates the problems that they have to clarify. Some of today's most pressing social issues, like in South Africa, are connected namely with these processes, as the borders between countries and cultures are becoming more permeable.
Authors suggest interesting concept - exclusionary citizenship. They rightly claim: “In forging a nation out of a multicultural and multi-ethnic society South Africa could not rely on common culture or ethnicity to create its “imagined community” As such it focused on citizenship as the unifying force” (Adja & Lazaridis, 2013, P. 194)
Sixteen years ago, the power in South Africa peacefully passed from the ruling National Party of white to the African National Congress, expressed the interests of the black majority. The first black president of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, stressing the multi-ethnic composition of the country, proclaimed the slogan of “rainbow nation”. The apartheid regime was overthrown, with benches in the parks have removed signs “whites only”. But racism did not disappear. It had just acquired a different shade.
References
Adjai, Carol & Lazaridis, Gabriella (2013). Migration, Xenophobia and New Racism in Post-Apartheid South Africa. International Journal of Social Science Studies Vol.1, No. 1, 192-205.
