the color of race

As of tomorrow, I'll have been in this beautiful country that is South Africa for six weeks now. I've learned an overwhelming deal about life and it's almost too difficult to put it to words as I can barely mentally organize a lot of the things I have encountered. And, yet, one item that plays a role in the daily events of South African life is the very thing that many of us in America try to ignore... Race.

Race in has been one of the 'hot topics' I have come to discuss, and there are so many facets to 'the issue' of race that I will certainly not be able to address in one post, let alone within one sitting. But, I will remind you that this blog is first and foremost a sort of self-documentation for none other than myself, so I will write about my experiences because they are, indeed, my experiences. Accordingly, my experiences will not necessarily represent a nation as a whole, but they do ring true because they are a part of my story.

I'll set aside this post to talk about a bit of the implications of race in South Africa as a whole, understandings that have been generated through both observation and discussion. This would be a ridiculously long post so I'll separate this out quite a bit over the next several weeks and add as I see fit. I'll apologize now for the heaviness of this post, but it is real, and again, it is for me more than anyone else.

In order to impact the racial construct of South Africa, we must go back to the root of the issue... where did racial separation begin? Apartheid. I'll start with a bit of groundwork: apartheid was an era operated by the South African government, literally meaning "apart-ness" in Afrikaans. It was not just an innate social separation that happened to come about--it was the law in itself, equivalent to Jim Crow laws in the States that were abolished in 1965. The difference here is that Jim Crow was made into the law in 1876 while America was a very new nation (and is arguably still very young when taken into a historical context), meanwhile Apartheid was put into law in 1948 until 1994.

What really shocks me, oddly enough, is the fact that segregation in SA was not enforced as law until 1948. So then it becomes 'why then?' Why wait until 1948-about 400 years after European settlers arrived--to decide it seemed fitting to write down rules to separate people by color and dictate which were better than another? What was the catalyst for all this? One of our program mentors explained to me that racism and prejudice had always existed by the very nature of colonialism in itself. However, it was when South Africa gained its independence from colonists that a new white (though a large minority) South African government took over. Many African countries were gaining independence within the next decade and for South Africa, like many others, 'independence' becomes a very loose term.

Under apartheid, the government placed a hierarchy of race with privileges for some over others. One of the most notable that I have become most familiar with is in housing; this is where townships come in. Townships exist as the government directed black and coloured individuals and families to leave their homes and put them into communities elsewhere. It is a result of the separation and it is very clearly still in existence today not because these races cannot leave the township by choice, but rather because they do not have the means to do so.

From what I've heard the quality of life for those people in townships were best under Mandela's presidency. On my first visit to the township of Khayelitsha someone asked about the debate of 'home' ownership within township communities. We heard that one of the current issues are rights regarding the property these people live on, as their families have easily resided in a certain shack or renovated shelter for the last 60 years. A student asked why it was that these people weren't trying to get a right to their township 'homes' and even the land that it sits on, as their own property was destroyed and they were almost evicted out of their own land pre-apartheid. Did they not at least deserve the new land they were forced into? The hope would be that gaining ownership of property would be the first step in acquiring solid assets that would allow for more opportunities financially. We were informed that many of these individuals don't want these titles, however, as they aren't having to be taxed because it is not actually there. And it has nothing to do with desiring to get out of a large tax as much as it is with the fact that they can barely afford basic necessities, much less do they have an ability to pay tax. Even more, if they were to fail to pay tax, many of these people do not have anything more for a government to take away than the tin shack above their head. That is when reality becomes visible.

Also, townships are also not as safe as my experience in my first township tour in Langa. We are told that one of the biggest issues, especially within the coloured townships, are gang violence. One of my professors recently stated a sentiment I've heard quite a bit that coloureds are stereotypically seen as the gangsters of South Africa and are often seen as 'thugs.' In townships like this gang invitations begin as early as grade five or six. Typically, this is the turning point in which an individual either chooses to take school seriously (and man, many of these kids do, they yearn for it) or find protection by joining a gang. The same can be said in gang involvement within the States.

Another serious issue other than such violence lies in rape. I've seen many townships that have a large single line of portable toilets (aka port-a-potties...looks weird written out) on one border of the community of homes. I'm not sure which township I see most visibly, but there are easily 100 of them lined up for use as toilets. I had a thought that it was a nice provision for the community, but soon learned from a friend that the most rapes occur anytime after sunset (around 6:30ish) as women walk down to use the restroom, so many avoid it at night all together. Anyone is much more susceptible to being a victim of crime at any time of day in South Africa, and even here in town we are advised to be exceedingly cautious at any point  after 5 pm (in things like avoiding public transportation in its entirety). But to not even be able to use a bathroom in your own community is heartbreaking. Walking out of a township is walking out with a breath of gratefulness each time.I am reminded I am returning to a bed, warm shower, kitchen, and stocked fridge while someone I just encountered is living a very different life. Going with the knowledge that what you will see will only be for but a moment is difficult when you realize that their environment will not change after you leave. And it may not change for an unforeseeable number of years to come.

Clearly, what has been done in the past remains in the past--as Mandela encouraged South Africans to live in forgiveness--but you really must look into the past to understand how they might change their future. I've realized that when you look at the major issues in South Africa, it seems to point to race. Then when you try to understand where the modern-day racial tensions arise, it brings one back to where many of the students' history lies. And, until very recently, SA history had blacks separate from coloureds separate from Indians, and so on.

I am living among this first generation of a free South Africa. Though I was born before segregation was actually outlawed here, my generation did not see much of apartheid in legality, but I am certainly witnessing its impact. In the same way that one must dig to remove a weed from its root in order to make sure it does not start growing again, there seems like a need for a racial barrier to be broken. The question then, is how. And this is one I'm sure many have been asking for the last twenty years now.