For the longest time, I was certain that racism was over.
Apartheid was legally abolished and therefore, racism should be kicked out the window. Surely, so much hatred could not still exist in our new, diverse world.
Regrettably, I was wrong.
It started in High School. I was placed by my scholarship in an area that was unfamiliar to me. The “white” culture was overwhelming and I was now 3 quarters deep in a way of life that was difficult to understand. This privileged culture boggled my mind. Don’t get me wrong, I was grateful to be there but somehow, I felt like I did not belong.
However, I still vehemently denied the after effects of Apartheid. I ignored the differences in financial class and it’s correlation with race; I ignored the subtle racist comments at school covering it up with, “they did not know what they were saying.”; I even ignored the countless times that I had to adjust my speech to sound slightly more fitting. I was somewhat naive and I truly believed that the shadow of Apartheid was not still being cast over our nation.
But it dawned upon me slowly though as I walked to and from school with a group of the cleaning ladies at my school. They would laugh and joke as they walked to and from work; always in groups and always with some sort of buzz. Strong, wise and classy ladies.
A question started forming in my mind.
Why were we all people of colour?
Even more so, why were all the people that worked as nannies, cleaners and gardeners or handymen black or coloured?
Why did we all travel so far everyday to get to work?
And why was I used to that picture? Why was it normal?
It started slowly and then all at once, I started to see the effects of apartheid EVERYWHERE.
I saw it in the difference in infrastructure with people of colour living in wendyhouses, shanties, small crowded family homes at best, with most white people living in homes with at least running water, electricity, 3 bedrooms ie. “a proper house.”
I saw it at posh restaurants where the waitresses and waiters were mostly people of colour and the customers were mostly white.
I saw it at lunch-time where girls would have packed lunch composed of mostly Woolworths products.
I saw it at petrol stations – all the attendees were either coloured or black.
I saw it on the street – most of the beggars were people of colour.
It was “unnatural” to see a white beggar, cleaner, car guard, gardener, taxi driver etc.
And the realisation that, the systems put into place by Apartheid are still being carried over today, shocked me.
It was a tough pill to swallow – that all along my family was right about the state of our nation. That I was naive in my pursuit of the idea that; we do all have equal opportunity because in reality – we don’t.
A system was invented to separate us all according to our race and unfortunately, those systems were built to favour one race while the others were forgotten.
Now, we are sitting with the aftermath – with problems created by the nonsensical legislature of apartheid – and while a lot has changed, honestly, nothing has really changed.
