One of my students, a pretty dedicated and outspoken Marxist (in that way that only an early 20s white kid can be, which I say affectionately) asked why the Black workers chose to fight against the unions rather than support them. I remember them using the term "choose."
I emphasized that the creation of whites-only unions was the choice that divided the labor struggle, not the Black workers who pointed it out. The initial act against solidarity was taken by the whites. In fact, Black workers *wanted* to unify! They wanted solidarity!
This kid looked at me like I'd said something completely out of left field; not discounting it, just, like, mystifying. I directed them toward some scholarship on African labor movements in SA and beyond, as well as some decolonial theory. But the initial response was such an eye-opener for me.
This kid was not some grizzled old dude, mired in decades of "class only" nonsense. But already they had internalized that a response to discrimination was more "divisive" than the initial discrimination itself. This is deeply ingrained, and unity isn't on the backs of those being excluded.
PS: I am not even close to a specialist in South African history or labor history, so there is so, so much more to the story here that is fascinating and heartbreaking. And there is some really amazing scholarship, both older and new.