I have now been in South Africa for over 7 months. I have lived some of my most memorable experiences, visited awe-inspiring places, and met wonderful people. Some of these experiences I have shared with you through this blog. But what came to my mind the other day is that I’ve never really shared my reflections/observations on the frailty of racial relations in post-apartheid South Africa. So, I will do my best to express some of my conclusions on such delicate a topic.
Perhaps the greatest advantage to being here with Ubuntu Sports Outreach is that I actually get to live in a South African township. Now, most images that spring up when the thought of a township comes to mind are that of dirt roads, 10 X 10 ft metal shacks, and children everywhere. That image is actually quite accurate. However, that’s the image that is portrayed of the more exposed Black communities. That image is slightly different from that of Coloured communities. As you may know, I actually live in the latter.
Coloured people in South Africa are a small minority. Not having reaped the wicked benefits of the Whites during Apartheid, nor the assistance of an all black government, Coloureds have been caught somewhat in the middle. Unarguably closer to the poverty of Blacks, most of the nations Coloureds have settled in Cape Town. The ‘Cape Coloureds’ make up almost all the Coloured population in South Africa, and seldom populate the other major cities like Johannesburg (the ‘Black Concrete Jungle’), Pretoria, or Port Elizabeth.
Underrepresented in the government, unable to relate to the wealth of the Whites, Coloureds suffer a major struggle with identity. During Apartheid they were given a few more rights than Blacks, but were secondhand citizens in the oppressive system nonetheless. Where then, should they find their identity? Are they supposed to embrace the overwhelmingly white sports of Cricket and Rugby? Or are they to invest their passion into Soccer, the sport of the poor? The do not have a history with Cricket or Rugby as they weren’t allowed to participate until the mid 90’s, and Bafana Bafana (the endearing term used to refer to South Africa’s soccer national team meaning “Our Boys”) is an almost all Black team. Coloureds cannot fully relate to Blacks because they have White heritage, but neither can they relate to Whites due to their Black ancestry. They are caught within the struggle of not knowing where they’re from and instead find identity in their culture’s deepest problems: unemployment, substance abuse, promiscuity, domestic violence, etc… They see these evils in their communities and assimilate them with their own culture. Not even their language is uniquely their own as is the case in the Black cultures. Their primary language, Afrikaans, is the language passed down from the Afrikaners who believed Coloureds to be animals in the first place.
One of the saddest things that I have gotten to experience while living in a Coloured community is the extreme racism that exists towards Blacks. Speak to just about any Coloured in Ocean View, and the feelings towards Blacks are basically the same. Even among passionate Christ followers whose faith can move mountains, racism is ever prevalent. In their case, they wouldn’t consider themselves racist, but offer every other symptom of racial resentment imaginable. As one friend and fellow church member said, she is “not racist, just anti-Black.” Perhaps too vain, I would have thought (and understood) their racism towards Whites. But this is not the case. Towards them exists almost a sense of a vague unacknowledged admiration. A sense that when you really look at things deeply, Coloureds are also ‘White.’ So much so that you will often hear Coloureds refer to Blacks as Africans, dismissing any insane thought from foreigners that they too belong to this continent.
A relationship between a Coloured and a White isn’t too common. Relationships between a White person and a Black one are rare, but exist. Yet when I stop to really think about it, the idea of a Colorured and Black couple is almost laughable. It simply doesn’t exist.
When Nelson Mandela took charge in 1994 after decades of oppression and violence towards his people from Whites, everyone expected him to unleash 27 years of prison-induced pain out onto the nation’s White population. Yet, when he was released, this most formidable of men did the unimaginable. Instead of cleansing the nation of the Whites that represented a century of oppression, President Mandela forgave those who had made him suffer. FORGAVE!!! He was unjustly imprisoned for 27 YEARS! AND HE FORGAVE!!! I have visited Robben Island where Mandela was imprisoned. The place is a putrid dessert with very little vegetation, millions of rocks, and miles of ghastly dirt. His cell was the size of a very small bathroom and the beds were as comfortable as lying on a highway. On top of it all, Robben Island has one of the most beautiful views of Cape Town and Table Mountain. Prisoners on Robben Island were forced to look upon this taunting view of beautiful freedom which for them was utterly unattainable. I say this to emphasize how illogical it was for Mandela to forgive. Another case in which the light shines brightest in the dark.
I say all this to help you understand the concern that many South Africans face about a post-Mandela future. Now 92, Nelson Mandela probably doesn’t have much longer to live. Many fear that with his death will rise much of the vengeance that was postponed 16 years ago. With the leader of the ANC (African National Congress) recently singing the song “Kill the Boer (basically kill the White man),” this outlandish fear doesn’t seem all too unreal.
When thinking about South Africa’s racial problems, I cannot help but feel a deep sense of resentment, borderline hatred, towards Whites. I always get this image of a big white man’s hand coming down on two men, one Coloured, one Black. In this mental image, both of these men are blindfolded while the ‘big white hand’ slaps and irritates the two black and coloured men. Irritated but not sure about the source of the irritation, the two men try to helplessly fend off the ‘big white hand.’ Seeing this, ‘the big white hand’ finally removes the two men’s blindfold. When the coloured and the black man, angry at being bothered, make eye contact after the blindfolds lift, they automatically think of each other as the source of the annoyance and began to fight. Finding it amusing, ‘the big white hand’ retreats back a bit in order to better see the fight going on bellow, laughing intensely as the hand has now transformed into a face.
It’s hard to explain a picture which has never travelled outside my brain, but hopefully you understand a bit better how I inevitable think of the situation. The White Man came in and caused horrific problems through his disturbed system of Apartheid. He abused, beat, degraded, humiliated, and killed innocent people, whilst growing richer. Once Apartheid ended, the Coloured Man and the Black Men were left with nothing while the White Men went away to enjoy his wickedly gained wealth. Coloureds and Blacks may not be fighting themselves every day, but thanks to Apartheid they now battle much worse problems. Disease, alcohol abuse, dismal education, domestic violence, drug use, lack of identity, unsanitary living conditions, undignified housing, self-hatred, lack of confidence, and the list continues. Racial relations in South Africa may appear at peace from the outside. But when you really get to examine the problem from the inside, reality dictates something other than peace.
The likes of Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu are very unlikely to repeat themselves. But the One who will always be present is our Lord Jesus Christ. It is only through Him that we find leaders to set an example through love, peace, and forgiveness. Please pray for South Africa and its people. The world is beginning to arrive for the nation’s greatest ever event. Pray that the people of this great nation will feel great pride in their country and that they will learn to live in peace, free from the resentment of their heart. Thank you so much for wanting to hear some of my observations on such unique a problem. I look forward to discussing many more of my experiences with you when I see you again. I pray that you are well and living in the peace given to us through Jesus Christ.
Love,
Andy
