Research probes racism in advertising

“Is such a statement potentially ‘hate-speech'? Do those who are not ‘white' believe that this is the case? Is racism something that only whites have, like some disease of the mind?” he asks.

Tit for tat

One wonders, of course, whether this bumper sticker is in response to that video game released locally a week or so ago that allows motorists to get their own back on taxi drivers? Well, whatever the reason, Bester put TGI to work on finding an answer as they already ask some questions on racial attitudes.

The chart below shows the percentage of the SA population groups that agree with a set of ‘race' questions.

Whites do stand out in that they do not agree, to the same extent as other “races” with “advertising still portraying a racist viewpoint”, “race classification being retained” and a general striving for “equality”, says Bester.

Surprisingly low

“Significantly, it is the coloureds and Indians that stand out, with high agreement on all statements, barring ‘retaining race classification'. On this issue the blacks, who probably stand most to gain through empowerment, are more likely to agree. But at 44% this is surprisingly low… less than 50% of blacks agree with this statement.”

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On the disagree front, whites tend to disagree with racism being prevalent in advertising and also with race classification. Perhaps there is a degree of “insensitivity” to race issues by whites, but this is at best, marginal.

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On the issue of retaining race classification in order to redress past wrongs, there is a distinct bias towards the upper socioeconomic levels…the better educated and better-off Socioeconomic Level 1 group shows strong disagreement to the retention of race classification.

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This tendency is repeated amongst blacks, with the upper socioeconomic level blacks being polarised and tending to disagree with the retention of race classification. And, with only 20% of blacks definitely agreeing that race classification should be retained, this shows that the degree of commitment to this issue is not that strong.

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The fact is that the bulk – more than 50% – of South Africans, whether black, coloured, white or Indian, do agree that they “resent being classified by race”. Those that disagree are in the minority at less than 20%.

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Says Bester, “Bumper stickers, signs in car windows and graffiti in general, are all part of the ‘communal zeitgeist'. These are sometimes amusing, sometimes true and sometimes just plain irritating. Whether it is just a sticker in a taxi window or official policy, we South Africans do appear to be finding common ground in terms of the ‘race card', with only 16% of South Africans disagreeing that they resent being classified by race and less than 10% definitely disagreeing.”

Race card

So, playing the race card, he says, will appeal at best to very few of us that make up a nation so full of hope and possibility. “The bulk of South Africans, wherever they are in the rainbow spectrum, will remain bemused and/or irritated at attempts to gain support or favour on “racial” grounds.”