By Gillian Schutte
As we mark Women’s Month in South Africa, a time meant to honour and uplift the diverse experiences of women across our nation, your recent claims dismissing Critical Race Theory (CRT) and trivialising the focus on white male privilege are particularly distasteful.
Once again, you have unashamedly exposed your white supremacist ideals. Instead of acknowledging the unique challenges faced by black people, particularly black women in our society, you have chosen to erase and undermine their experiences.
This is not only misguided but dangerously dismissive of the race and gender based systemic inequalities that persist thirty years after so-called liberation. Your position, Helen, as espoused in the recent wide ranging interview, is not just imperious and erroneous; it is, I suspect, a deliberate obfuscation that exacerbates the marginalisation of those already at the periphery of our socio-political landscape. By so doing, you aim to protect white privilege.
Most perturbing is that you make these conceited conjectures from a position of comfortability in the sanctuary of white masculine privilege—a privilege from which you, as a white woman, have not been exempt. Your arrogance and ignorance around the intersection of gender and racial privileges have also, apparently, clouded your understanding of Critical Race Theory (CRT) and the broader dynamics of power in South Africa. For now though, let’s deal with white male privilege, the roots of which, Helen, are deeply embedded in the history of expansionism, colonialism, and the violent subjugation of indigenous peoples.
White male privilege, Helen, is rooted in the European ruling class and religious patriarchy. Some of these privileges were expediently extended to males outside the aristocracy during the colonial era in a social engineering exercise based on the false construct of race. During this period, European powers, led exclusively by white men, engaged in the systematic conquest, plunder, and exploitation of lands and resources belonging to indigenous peoples. This violent expansion was justified through a moral and racial superiority complex that has continued to influence societal structures long after the formal end of colonial rule. During this time, white people of all classes were deemed superior to brown and black-skinned people, and the concept of race was constructed to turn those native to the colonised lands into chattel in service to whites. Thus indigenous peoples were relegated to a status akin to the bestial, while white people were constructed as godly. That is why, Helen, the idea that white male privilege and supremacy underpin all institutions is not incorrect. It is known as economic and institutional privilege based on the history of structural racism.
Let me add that white women were not passive bystanders in this colonial thuggery. Rather, our feminine ancestors were active participants in this historical trajectory. They benefited from and upheld the social norms and racial hierarchies established by their male counterparts. From managing enslaved individuals and native labourers to promoting cultural and religious indoctrination, white women played a significant role in maintaining the colonial order. Their privileges were directly linked to the subjugation and exploitation of African slaves and indigenous peoples. The system of historical privilege through generational wealth and societal privileging of white skin remains in place today, a phenomenon that has been all but erased in liberal white feminist studies.
Real Statistics vs “Real Racism”
Your notion that focusing on white male privilege is a distraction from addressing "real racism" (which you claim to hate) fundamentally misunderstands the systemic nature of racism and privilege. White male privilege is not the myth you purport it to be, but a tangible and pervasive reality embedded in the very fabric of our society.
For example, according to Statistics South Africa’s "Quarterly Labour Force Survey" (2023), the average annual income for white males significantly exceeds that of their black counterparts. White males earn an average of R440,000 annually, compared to R160,000 for black males. This economic disparity is not merely incidental but indicative of systemic racial advantages that have persisted post-apartheid.
Corporate Privilege and CEO Dominance
In addition, within the ranks of corporate South Africa, white males hold around 70% of CEO positions in the nation’s top 100 companies (Institute of Directors in Southern Africa, 2022).
If you are indeed ignorant of this disproportionate representation that clearly underscores the continued dominance of white males in leadership roles, then perhaps you, Helen, are not fit to speak on public platforms about such matters. All of this undoubtedly reflects a broader societal structure that privileges white male access to power and decision-making, and your apparent ignorance around this only serves to maintain this trajectory.
Land Privilege and Wealth vs Land Dispossession
Let’s move on to the land issue. It is quite obvious that the clarion call for the return of land through expropriation without compensation by more radical groups in South Africa has been reduced to the antics of black male misbehaviour by you and your ilk. Again, this is how you choose to erase the pain and lived experience of the oppressed, thereby relieving yourselves of the burden of self-reflection—by situating the right of the majority to rise up for justice into a narrow framing of violence and irrationality. However, even you cannot deny that land ownership further exemplifies the entrenchment of white male privilege. For example, the Human Sciences Research Council (2021) reported that white South Africans own approximately 72% of agricultural land, while black South Africans own less than 10%. This obvious contrast is a direct consequence of historical structural dispossession and ongoing systemic inequalities.
Wealth distribution, as highlighted by the World Bank (2023), reveals that the wealthiest 10% of South Africans, predominantly white, control about 70% of the country’s wealth.
These figures, Helen, are not anomalies but the result of sustained racial and economic policies that continue to favour white individuals, particularly white males.
Educational Access and Institutional Support
Further, Helen, the Department of Basic Education’s 2023 report illustrates significant disparities in educational access and quality. White students are more likely to attend well-resourced schools, perpetuating a cycle of privilege that begins at an early age. This advantage extends into higher education and professional opportunities, reinforcing the socio-economic status quo.
You must have some awareness that institutional support systems most often reinforce these privileges. Their diversity and inclusion initiatives, while perhaps well-intentioned, usually focus on gender representation and identity politics without addressing underlying racial and economic disparities. As a result, white women, and by extension, white men, continue to benefit from these structures, even as they appear to promote equality.
Cultural Representation and Media Narratives
Helen, if you have not noticed how media and cultural narratives most often privilege white male perspectives, and further entrench their dominance, then perhaps you need to read beyond the ongoing propagandised one-dimensional research produced by the IRR. We all know that white men are frequently portrayed positively as leaders, heroes, and authoritative figures, while women are most often portrayed in less flattering terms—none so much as black women, particularly those who do not kowtow to white liberal values. This, of course, reinforces the idea that white individuals are the standard or ideal—a cultural backdrop that reinscribes the social acceptance and success of white individuals in various spheres of life.
White women, in particular, benefit from this dynamic. Their voices are often amplified in discussions on gender equality and feminism because they operate within a framework influenced by white masculine norms. This intersectional advantage allows them to be more effectively heard and supported in their advocacy efforts compared to black women.
The Interplay of Race and Gender Privilege
You cannot pretend obliviousness that white women also benefit from white masculine privilege and are born with the racial advantage that provides them with access to opportunities and resources that are less accessible to black people. While white women face gender-specific challenges, their racial privilege intersects with and amplifies their advantages, highlighting the complex interplay between race and gender privileges.
For example, white women’s participation in social and political spheres is often facilitated by the same networks and structures that benefit white men. This includes access to influential social circles, funding opportunities, and platforms for public discourse. As a result, their political and social capital is often intertwined with and supported by the broader white masculine privilege. You should know this first-hand.
In concluding this letter Helen, I wish to reiterate that your stance on this matter is perilous for all women but most perilous for the majority of black women who remain the most disadvantaged group in South Africa. As we enter Women’s Month, it would be more prudent of you to acknowledge that black women face a unique intersection of racial and gender discrimination. It is they who are placed diametrically opposite to white male privilege in terms of access, are often forced to remain at the lowest rungs of economic and social hierarchies and bear the brunt of structural and systemic injustices that compound both their racial and gender identities.
Your attempt to erase critical discourse on white male privilege, effectively aims to silence the voices of black women. You deny their lived realities and reinforce a system that continues to oppress them. This is not just an intellectual oversight; it is a moral failing.
Yours truly,
Gillian Schutte
* Gillian Schutte is a film-maker, and a well-known social justice and race-justice activist and public intellectual.
** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL or Independent Media.