JOHANNESBURG (FinalCall.com)�In late August, a 14-year-old Black girl went into a store in the South African, Northern Province town of Louis Trichardt. The white manager of the store accused her of shoplifting. Protesting but terrified, she was dragged to a back room in the store, stripped naked to the waist, painted white from the top of her head down to her belly button and thrown out into the street.

In the neighboring North-West Province, where the smaller towns are also controlled by whites, a white farmer is facing charges of seriously assaulting his Black laborers.

In the Mpumalanga (meaning: Where the sun rises) Province a young Black farmworker strolled onto a white-owned farm. He was accosted by the farmer and his cohorts, accused of trespassing, stripped naked, painted silver and put up for display.

The list of cases like these in South Africa is infinite. Life, especially on the farms, is reminiscent of the days of slavery.

It is against this background that the South African government, under the leadership of President Thabo Mbeki, has launched an historic initiative to cut to the bone of racism and deal with it up front. It is an exercise unparalleled in any part of the modern world.

The aim of the South African Human Rights Commission in hosting "The National Conference on Racism," Aug. 30-Sept. 2, is to prevent what has happened in countries like Germany, Australia, Ireland and, it need be noted, the mighty United States of America, say its supporters. Instead of dealing with racism after periods of harsh oppression of Black and indigenous peoples, all of these countries stepped into a comfort zone of collective amnesia, observers argue.

South Africa, now emerging out of a white racist society, is one of the freshest examples of confronting this problem and has chosen to deal with the issue now�rather than let it unjustly recede into obscurity, say supporters of Mr. Mbeki and his government.

President Mbeki has been accused, in white-controlled newspapers, of being obsessed with racism. He has also been engaged in a running war-of-words with the head of the newly constituted Democratic Alliance, a formation of two political parties, the notorious National Party of the apartheid past and the slightly liberal Democratic Party. The alliance is headed by Tony Leon, a conservative Jewish politician, who has accused Mr. Mbeki of using the "race-card" whenever he gets into a tight spot.

At the launch of the race summit, Mr. Mbeki pulled no punches. He lambasted whites collectively for not embracing the widely touted concept of reconciliation.

Since the historic 1994 first democratic elections, what has become evident is the hand of reconciliation has been extended only by the one side: the Black side. Whites remain smug in their control of industry, happily send their children to privileged private and predominantly white public schools and are still at the helm in the main sporting organizations in the country, Blacks say.

"Our process of national reconciliation has been somewhat of a charade. In this regard, only the victims of racism have responded to the call to forgive and to let bygones be bygones," President Mbeki noted.

Those who have been the perpetrators and beneficiaries of oppression and exploitation "have acted merely to defend their interests, refusing to extend their own hand towards the victim, in a true spirit of reconciliation," Mr. Mbeki intoned.

South Africa has a population of 41 million people. Of these 89.1 percent are Black while whites make up 10.9 percent of the population.

One of the most significant mechanisms set in place to deal with the past, another historic and unique South African initiative�the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC)�has also been a glaring example of the lack of white goodwill in the "new" South Africa, Mr. Mbeki continued.

"The response of our society to the request to make submissions to the TRC helped to reinforce the view that the beneficiaries of white minority rule were unwilling to contribute to the process of national reconciliation," he argued.

Mr. Mbeki, looking back at bloody anti-apartheid struggles, was also relentless in reminding whites that they did precious little to "break ranks" and join those who strove to rid the country of a system so universally damned.

One cynic at the race summit made a remark, one uttered over and over again in South Africa, that while whites stand on the sideline and whine about the supposed mess South Africa is now in, it is impossible to find a single white person honest enough to admit they supported apartheid, or even voted for the previous white-only government.

The meeting in Johannesburg is providing a platform for 21 groups to later sit and discuss a variety of issues like defining racism, how it impacts South African society and what is to be done about it.

Again, while all of this happens, the predominantly white Democratic Alliance�whose leaders boycotted the groundbreaking event�watches from the wings.

The chairperson of the Human Rights Commission, Dr. Barney Pityana, told conference goers, it was up to all South Africans not to remain silent about "the brutality of racism in our midst."

He dismissed conference cynics, urging that broader debate be considered around the "horror of racism."

The desired outcome of the conference, he said, is initiation of a national consensus, a movement against racism in all its forms.

Mr. Mbeki�s message was also one of hope, in which he again extended the olive branch of reconciliation to whites: "We are convinced that as a people, both Black and white, we have the wisdom, ingenuity and sensitivity to the human condition that will drive and enable us to overcome the demon of racism."

The factors that made South Africa�s transition such a peaceful one, Mr. Mbeki contended, will constitute the same engine that will lead to the defeat "of the demon of racism."

The results and outcome of this conference need to be watched carefully and nurtured just as carefully. But white intransigence remains: One legislator with the Democratic Alliance accused ANC leaders of unfairly dwelling on past wrongs and ignoring progress made over the past 10 years. In addition, a group of white intellectuals also complained, "South Africans are standing helpless against the government which professes its commitment to a struggle against racism but does exactly the opposite." The Group of 63, white Afrikaner writers, labor leaders and scholars, charged that President Mbeki and other officials stir up Black anger and alienate whites.