Thirty five years ago a little white boy aged three, standing in his bathing costume next to the pool, stroked the arm of a little black girl, also in a bathing costume, and said, "Ooh, you've got a lovely tan." My son didn't see race and certainly had no race prejudice. That was at the height of apartheid. He is still not a racist, just as many other whites are not.
We survived apartheid and have had twenty years under a constitution that movingly proclaims the essential worth of all of us. Our liberal democratic constitution - billed as the most progressive in the world -carefully spells out measures to promote equality.
Our government has spent two decades uplifting the poorest of the poor and in creating middle class status for several million black people. Our public service has attained racial targets so that black officials predominate almost everywhere. We have a growing official opposition that is broadly based and is a testament to the most ambitious effort yet seen in our country to create a truly non-racial political home for the voters.
And yet; and yet. Race is suddenly - again - all pervasive. Everyone is talking about it; everyone is writing about it; racial incidents are rearing their heads; the media are full of comment and discussion. Instead of rational debate aimed at being constructive and intended to promote the idea of non-racialism, there are people who pour paraffin on the fire. A fading pop-star who should know better, assisted by some adoring fans and convinced racists, had the gall to accuse blacks of being responsible for apartheid. I wonder if he thinks women are responsible for rape and children responsible for child abuse?
The American situation is not helping. A president who was elected, partly because he was seen as a new beginning and a role model for black people worldwide, seems unable to articulate the American dream - and help realise it for those left behind. Despite his sometimes soaring and even thrilling oratory, millions there and elsewhere, including here, feel let down. Race is again on the march and millions of Americans have been appalled at racial incidents centered around the treatment of black people by the police.
A few racial incidents here have also attracted vast amounts of attention, and rightly so. Anyone who cares about South Africa's future must know there is no room here for racists. White racists are cutting their own throats if they think they can go on showing their contempt and their supposed superiority over others and still look forward to a decent future for their children.