The Making of a Good White - E-thesis - Helsinki.fi

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only one of these families had to leave the suburb. In reality there must have been many more, for, as discussed earlier, the data of this study does not cover every individual social work case. The decision of the 1941 Social Welfare Committee as quoted below, refers to the Company’s continuous co-operation with the headmaster, and reflects tiredness and disillusionment with his mission for racial purity. “The social worker reported on the fi ve cases which were investigated by them and stated that they were not prepared to make any recommendations in connection with the colour of the various families investigated. After discussion it was decided and the secretary - manager was instructed to notify the principal of the Epping Garden Village school that the board is not prepared to do anything further in the matter.” (CHL, SWR: 1941.) Clearly, the officials of the Citizens’ Housing League knew that the people they allowed to stay were not always as white as they should have been, but they applied their own rules. “In the investigation report, colour was stated as doubtful but the member of the selection committee who passed the family stated: ’I have noticed the remark about colour. I should say that they rank as European.’ Further investigation showed that Mrs. A’ s mother, is the coloured caretaker of N.N. Hall . . . A sister of Mr. A. who often visits the family is also undoubtedly non-European in the opinion of the social workers.” (CHL, SWR: 1939.) The struggle was not fought just between the Company and the headmaster. Allowing too coloured people in was a blow to the fragile whiteness of the other residents, endangering their still dubious position in the racial hierarchy. Social pressure could be harsh on the people who did not fit the ideals of whiteness, as they endangered the racial purity of the whole Village. The children had to carry their part of the burden. “This daughter has a very dark complexion and straight black hair and for this reason is called ’black hottentot’ by her school fellows . . . she is very unhappy and sometimes refuses to go to school. At the Bellville school she was considered as European. Mrs. W. is aware of the girl’s 156
unhappiness and tells her not to worry as she knows she is European.” (CHL, SWR: 1942.) In the archival material there are several references to the enthusiasm of some of the residents to get rid of these ’unsuitable characters’. The neighbours were quick to draw attention to the suspected colour of the other residents, and they provided information on the ’dubious’ appearance of their neighbours’ children to social workers. “The lady members of the committee and the Social worker investigated and decided that Mrs. A. and her children could pass as European. Complaints have again been lodged by a few other tenants in the Village and by the principal of the school concerning their colour.” (CHL, SWR: 1940.) The social workers showed sympathy towards the people in this difficult position, and the moral dilemma of sending away a well-liked family whose children’s complexions were just a little too dark, surfaces several times in the material. In comparison to some residents and the primary school principal, the social workers seemed more ambivalent 141 and hesitant when the whiteness of people was discussed, contested and decided upon. “In spite of the fact that they were declared by the Minister of Religion as being European, Mrs. F. appeared to the Social Worker to be a coloured woman. Those children seen by the Social Worker, however, looked European, although the neighbours state that some of the others have a coloured appearance. Mrs. F. keeps her house and children very clean and tidy and appears to be a most agreeable person.” (CHL, SWR: 1948.) Even a relatively dark complexion could be overcome with the right behaviour. A socially respected family was also more prone to be accepted by the neighbours as a White family. 141 This ambiguity is reflected in a 1941 decision when the Social Welfare Committee attempted to create a unified opinion on the definitions of a white person by ruling that all the ‘dubious’ cases should be scrutinised by the whole selection committee. It is also illustrated by a 1947 decision when the Social Welfare Committee refused to take action concerning several allegedly racially mixed families in the suburb. 157
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Annika Björnsdotter Teppo THE MAKI
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”Dit is dr. Anton Rupert wat ges
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Myriam Houssay-Holzscuch for her wi
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CONTENTS 1. Introduction Background
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CONTENTS Men and Women at Work: Toi
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1. INTRODUCTION ”...There are ver
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of national unity (volkseenheid) an
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individual studies take in respect
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effortless, and it did not always p
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these bodily and social boundaries?
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term ‘poor white’ can be regard
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2. THE POOR WHITE CATEGORY The cate
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Poverty became more visible in the
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POOR WHITEISM Until the 1880s, pove
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people (Mattila 1996: 15-16). These
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mindedness assumed that it was conc
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that it had been strongly influence
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dependent was thus perceived as a c
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Afrikaner organisations such as the
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whites. Between 1880s and 1930s the
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poor whites was a crucial part of t
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From the beginning, the Housing Lea
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The First Residents: 1938-1948 Whil
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dren, while her husband Charles wor
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control of the poor whites grew har
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the area is not shared by middle-cl
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private life was not really private
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project, and a warning of the conse
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national prize-winning novel Triomf
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THE POOR WHITE STIGMA After the Sec
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of ‘racially superior’ whites t
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3. FIELDWORK: FACING THE ISSUES OF
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whites, and furthermore, a betrayal
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In EGV I was an outsider, a profess
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understanding of the everyday life
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the past ten years 71 discussions o
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Toit 1992 and 2003; Morrell 1992; P
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In Discipline and Punish, Foucault
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his body, he takes into account soc
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odily values (e.g. cleanliness). Si
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suburb. Other things, such as an ab
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for symbolic power is a very defini
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egulation. The means to this end we
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Embodiment and distinctions in the
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encouraged the system of concubinag
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The conversations followed a basic
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The world of the pass-whites was in
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people, since that would lead to de
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140-141; Dubow 1995: 281-283; O’M
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space, but there were still many ur
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(1970: 17). Therefore the treatment
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Page 107 and 108: acism. In 1932 he was nominated to
Page 109 and 110: and economic upliftment of the poor
Page 111 and 112: CONSTRUCTING EGV, A WHITE SUBURBAN
Page 113 and 114: Map 3: Ruyterwacht in 2001 113
Page 115 and 116: study model cities in England, Germ
Page 117 and 118: Since the spatial planning of the a
Page 119 and 120: well-being of the poor whites and t
Page 121 and 122: tion was to be a way out of humilia
Page 123 and 124: 6. THE ERA OF FAITH AND HARD WORK:
Page 125 and 126: The CHL wanted to ensure that it ch
Page 127 and 128: Social Services in the CHL Housing
Page 129 and 130: Advice was offered on employment an
Page 131 and 132: DISTRIBUTION OF ECONOMIC CAPITAL De
Page 133 and 134: money each family had spent on furn
Page 135 and 136: of rehabilitation. From the very be
Page 137 and 138: the idealisation of volksmoeders ti
Page 139 and 140: tution could provide. The risks inv
Page 141 and 142: “…the tenants in the Company’
Page 143 and 144: doctors to exercise care in issuing
Page 145 and 146: (and still are) measures of a good
Page 147 and 148: “It is said that Mrs. H. is addic
Page 149 and 150: “It was stated by neighbours howe
Page 151 and 152: deteriorating infl uence on other c
Page 153 and 154: “Investigation of the family circ
Page 155: purity. They accepted people with a
Page 159 and 160: still accepted as White, for they w
Page 161 and 162: CONCLUSION Epping Garden Village wa
Page 163 and 164: During this era most of the residen
Page 165 and 166: 7. THE ERA OF STAGNATION AND DISINT
Page 167 and 168: Being simultaneously poor and white
Page 169 and 170: The question of an optimal minimum
Page 171 and 172: ing privately owned homes, and the
Page 173 and 174: times and had nowhere else to go. T
Page 175 and 176: which, combined with the regulation
Page 177 and 178: Offi cer for automatic transfer to
Page 179 and 180: contributed to the family income mu
Page 181 and 182: aimed at those children who were sh
Page 183 and 184: eficial manner, and connected with
Page 185 and 186: itself as ”narrative structural p
Page 187 and 188: in order to scare their men into be
Page 189 and 190: with different men at different tim
Page 191 and 192: came obvious from the note in the a
Page 193 and 194: when the state paid for travel, clo
Page 195 and 196: She already had four siblings at th
Page 197 and 198: make it likely that some people did
Page 199 and 200: acks on the idea of Afrikanerdom. T
Page 201 and 202: scribed in the conclusion of the pr
Page 203 and 204: The racial ideas are alive and well
Page 205 and 206: The white residents of the suburb c
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Throughout the twentieth century th
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plaints are not openly directed at
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Some have moved to Goodwood, some h
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On the western boundary of Ruyterwa
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the position of poor white areas in
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since, as Burkitt has suggested,
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Picture 2: A thoroughly renovated G
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the same lifestyle or bodily concer
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to the authorities. As soon as they
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The Hierarchists Revolt: How Ruyter
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“You see, if you want to live in
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Arriviste Tactics: Muslims in the C
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empty talk, a non-functional tactic
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The End of the Upliftment as We Kne
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at home, it is possible to show you
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The social work has changed, and th
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“I do not bother myself with them
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understandable. As shown earlier, m
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and regulated Ruyterwacht homes are
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UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES Before the
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REDISTRIBUTION? At the end of the a
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Opheffing. Upliftment. To ’uplift
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APPENDIX 2: EGV IN 1940 Picture 4:
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APPENDIX 3: TABLES Occupations whit
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CODES/PRIMARY DOCUMENTS* 1 2 3 4 5
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Bickford-Smith, V., van Heyningen,
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De Certeau, Michel 2000. Ethno-Grap
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Freund, Bill 1992. Introduction: Th
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Horrell, Muriel (compiler) 1978. La
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Mauss, Marcel 1979. Sociology and P
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Russell, Diana E.H. 1997. Behind Cl
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Worden, N., van Heyningen, E. and B
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APPENDIX 5: INDEX WORDS ACVV 42-43,
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Johannesburg 15, 27, 67, 101, 104,
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