“Undressing Durban” is a staggeringly important book - absolutely critical reading for all us Durbanites who hope to overcome the unique challenge of building a vibrant, culturally integrated city. It's a stark exposure, and subsequent dismissal, of all the prejudices and misconceptions that we harbour deep down in our collective psyches, as racialised members of this proud 'Rainbow Nation'.

The book is a collection of approximately fifty diverse essays and studies, written mostly by students, academics and post-graduates from the Sociology department at UKZN. It was originally conceived as an alternative guide for the delegates visiting Durban for the International Sociology Convention - “alternative” in the sense that it “Undressed” Durban to it's bare form, and presented the truth about the many different ways the city is perceived by it's various social groups. The truth that the local tourism agencys are often reluctant to talk about.

The articles themselves vary from scientific and formal analysis, to highly opinionated personal accounts of life in the city. This is what makes the book engaging and compelling on so many levels: there are sections that are pure fact supported by empirical evidence, and others that are mere speculation and open to re-interpretation from other perspectives.

As a Durbanite, reading it has been a journey of deep introspection and reflection on the very essence of the society we live in. Race, culture and inequality is laid bare, then analysed, challenged and finally torn apart; leaving one with resolve and commitment to change; a will to mend that can only be brought about by understanding the people of this city on a meaningful level.

The issue of 'race' is confronted in a powerful, direct manner that highlights the enourmous amount of healing that could be realised by openly discussing and understanding the issue, rather than adopting the approach that 'race' is simply not an issue in the New South Africa.

As a white male, and someone who purports to know a fair bit about my own identity, I found one section particularly distressing as my views on culture were challenged. Maybe it's because I'd never heard the theory before that it was such an enlightening read; and perhaps my initial apprehension to it “undressed” some of my own personal bias. It goes like this:

“There is a tendency to take whiteness for granted as a culture-less norm, against which other 'races' are marked by particular social, cultural and religious identifications, affiliations and associations.”.... “this is a powerful position because to claim culture-lessness is to claim normalacy, and to present oneself as a spokesperson for 'humanity'”

This is presented as an explanation for why, given the racial composition of the contributing authors, there was so little content produced that dealt with white culture in Durban. White culture is almost just “a given”.

There is one particular opinion piece in which a few encounters are described and a fair bit of prejudice is attributed to racism, often I believe in an unjust manner. In this article by Shabashni Moodley on nightlife, she talks of an incident at "De La Rouge" (a pseudonym, but I'm fairly sure it's De La Sol on Florida Road) where she believes she was given harsh treatment based on racial profiling.

I can attest from first hand experience that the “upper class” and “trendy” clubs in Durban constantly profile anyone who doesn't immediately fit into the mould they've created to define their perfect customer; and that I've been the “victim” of prejudice, arrogance and denied entry a few times to different establishments in the city, despite the fact that I am a white male and from Moodley's perspective, presumably the ideal patron.

I'm not defending the club in any way, but rather pointing out that it's dicey to attribute an incident to pure racism when it could possibly be far shallower than that.

“Undressing Durban” contains many of these moments that are so familiar to most of us, yet presented from greatly varying perspectives. An absolutely astounding experience, and I highly recommend you pick up a copy from Adams book store, on the Howard College campus or Musgrave centre. You won't regret it.

The website is undressingdurban.blogspot.com