If sexuality were a race, which race would heterosexuality be? This conversation’s question provocatively delves into the complexities of the intersectionality of injustice, wondering whether the discourse on sexuality and justice in Africa can use ‘racial theory’ to help unpack the underlying existing responses of hatred and violence. Utilizing a feminist ethics of Ubuntu framework, this Indaba examines how sexuality, gender and race intersect in ways that inform societal understandings of power, identity, and exploitation. ‘Racial theory’ offers valuable insight into the ways dominant sexual norms, like heterosexuality, are privileged like white supremacy, while marginalized sexualities often face ‘racialized’ exclusion and dehumanization. As a conversation on decoloniality, it also unpacks how colonial histories, ‘racial theory’, and modern systems of oppression shape the ways heterosexuality is privileged over marginalized sexualities. Racialized systems of dominance inform societal sexual norms, with heterosexuality functioning as the “dominant race” in a broader social hierarchy that criminalizes and dehumanizes non-heteronormative sexualities.
Fulata Lusungu Moyo's PhD research and other scholarly works on ‘African sexuality’ have acknowledged that diverse sexual expressions, within a conception of integral sexuality, have been part and parcel of the African indigenous lived story from time immemorial - but without genderizing, racializing, ethnicizing or naming names on the basis of how or with whom. Therefore, to argue on how colonial legacies shaped by white supremacy can be blamed for colonizing the African sexuality discourse through naming, as if sexuality had distinct clan names, would not be far fetched. The coexistence of diversity of sexual expressions but one integrated name helped with the acceptance of those belonging to non-heteronormative. The naming not only created a segmentation confusion, but also seem to historically have linked sexual norms to hierarchies as articulated in racial identities, thus creating a system that endorses the privileging of heterosexuality while non-heteronormative sexualities end up marginalized, criminalized, or violently suppressed. It is hoped, therefore, that this palaver can also contribute to the disruption of traditional frameworks of sexuality and race in the kyriarchal agenda, opening spaces for new forms of justice-seeking rooted in collective responsibility and empathy that is safeguarded by the feminist ethics of ubuntu. By applying the depatriarcharized Ubuntu ethos, which emphasizes interconnectedness and communal well-being, this becomes a clarion call for a radical shift in how we view sexuality and sexual justice.
It is no longer a secret that racial and sexual supremest attitudes also drive sexual exploitation as expressed in human trafficking, a form of modern slavery. Here, racial and gender-based oppression converge, with the exploitation of bodies through trafficking disproportionately affecting women, children, and racial minorities. This exploitation is not just an economic issue but a direct consequence of the intersectional inequalities entrenched in systems of race, gender, and sexuality. Sexual trafficking reveals how marginalized bodies are commodified, stripped of dignity, and subjected to violence, with heterosexuality often framed as the “norm” that both justifies and perpetuates such exploitation.
Ubuntu fosters a framework of solidarity and collective responsibility, urging us to reimagine sexual and racial justice as part of a broader struggle against sexual exploitation, human trafficking, and modern slavery. This conversation advocates for transformative feminist responses rooted in empathy and dignity in our shared humanity that challenges the exploitation and objectification of marginalized bodies, encouraging a more inclusive and equitable approach to understanding the intersection of sexuality, gender, race, and power.
