0NighT0
1st November 2006, 11:39
There were police everywhere when it happened. The streets were running with blood as people forced their way through the sea of armed forces. Shots rang out and many people were killed, man, woman and child. This was not a war, this was an uprising by a group of people that had had too much.
I was sitting watching McGuyver on TV when my mother ran in and much to my disgust, clicked through the channels to the news. There were riots going on all over the country. Violent and Relentless. The people were taking back their homeland.
If you are wondering what I am talking about, I am reffering to the Black people of South Africa standing up against Apartheid. I was 12 years old when it happened.
Apartheid, for some of you not familiar with the term, is the complete separation of races. Whites separate from blacks. While I was growing up I never really realised the full extent of this system. The best education, property, health care... everything, went to the whites. Black South Africans were "herded" into certain areas and had to carry passes to gain access to the richer "White" areas, but only to work, and only during certain times. Often the black worker was a "slave" to the white "boss", being given a small room on the boss' property where he would sleep. His family was not allowed to leave the black area.
This was never a strange thing to me, being a white South African and having grown up with this type of segregation. I had never seen black kids. There were none in my school and I never really knew why. I assumed, in my childish ignorance, that they simply lived too far away and went to another school.
The people rose up during what is historically known as "The Struggle" and overthrew the oppresive government. In 1994 Nelson Mandela was named president of South Africa. The slow transition had begun. Initially there were strong protests when blacks started entering our schools, churches and beaches. People were afraid... inluding me. You see, I had never "known" a black person before. My family had brought me up to view black people as ignorant, dirty an inferior. Now these "kids" were in my classroom. I remember parents pulling their kids from public schools as soon as this happened. I would have been one of them could my parents have afforded it.
There was a black kid in my class, his name was Vuvu. He sat in the corner, didnt talk to anyone and the white teacher pretty much ignored him. We all resented him, me most of all because i had to share a desk with him. One day after school i went to my friends house (this happened every thursday). My friends mother was active in charity and was pro-equality. Vuvu's mother was their maid. I knew her and had spoken to her on occasion. Now that our school was "model-C" (a term they used to say that it was multi-racial), Vuvu was staying at my friends house, in the small outside quarters he shared with his mom. My friend and I were playing soccer that day when his mother came over, Vuvu's hand in hers, and asked us if he could also play. After a few crooked looks, we finally agreed. That is the day my life changed forever.
This kid was a soccer virtuoso! needless to say, it was the three of us together from that day forward. Every thursday we would get together and play soccer, basketball, nintendo. In those few years of my life, while taking abuse from my peers, I learnt a great lesson about discrimination.
It is now 12 years later and the Country is better than it has ever been. 10 years of affirmative action have just ended and the country is singing with pride and equal opportunity. There are still a few people clinging on to their fascist ideals, but the wrong doings of the past are being washed away as the new generation begins to take control of the nation. A few years ago I was privileged enough to presonally meet Nelson Mandela. He was old but he smiled at me and shook my hand.He was a really gental man, surprisingly so after being locked up for so many years by an oppresive government. He is one of my greatest heros (he even celebrated his 80th birthday with Fidel Castro).
I love my country and am proud of what my countrymen have acheived. And becuase of Vuvu, I will never forget how cruel people can be and how easily they can pass their ideas to their children.
If you are interested in finding out more about apartheid, check this link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apartheid, there is so much to be learned. Thank you for reading comrades.
I was sitting watching McGuyver on TV when my mother ran in and much to my disgust, clicked through the channels to the news. There were riots going on all over the country. Violent and Relentless. The people were taking back their homeland.
If you are wondering what I am talking about, I am reffering to the Black people of South Africa standing up against Apartheid. I was 12 years old when it happened.
Apartheid, for some of you not familiar with the term, is the complete separation of races. Whites separate from blacks. While I was growing up I never really realised the full extent of this system. The best education, property, health care... everything, went to the whites. Black South Africans were "herded" into certain areas and had to carry passes to gain access to the richer "White" areas, but only to work, and only during certain times. Often the black worker was a "slave" to the white "boss", being given a small room on the boss' property where he would sleep. His family was not allowed to leave the black area.
This was never a strange thing to me, being a white South African and having grown up with this type of segregation. I had never seen black kids. There were none in my school and I never really knew why. I assumed, in my childish ignorance, that they simply lived too far away and went to another school.
The people rose up during what is historically known as "The Struggle" and overthrew the oppresive government. In 1994 Nelson Mandela was named president of South Africa. The slow transition had begun. Initially there were strong protests when blacks started entering our schools, churches and beaches. People were afraid... inluding me. You see, I had never "known" a black person before. My family had brought me up to view black people as ignorant, dirty an inferior. Now these "kids" were in my classroom. I remember parents pulling their kids from public schools as soon as this happened. I would have been one of them could my parents have afforded it.
There was a black kid in my class, his name was Vuvu. He sat in the corner, didnt talk to anyone and the white teacher pretty much ignored him. We all resented him, me most of all because i had to share a desk with him. One day after school i went to my friends house (this happened every thursday). My friends mother was active in charity and was pro-equality. Vuvu's mother was their maid. I knew her and had spoken to her on occasion. Now that our school was "model-C" (a term they used to say that it was multi-racial), Vuvu was staying at my friends house, in the small outside quarters he shared with his mom. My friend and I were playing soccer that day when his mother came over, Vuvu's hand in hers, and asked us if he could also play. After a few crooked looks, we finally agreed. That is the day my life changed forever.
This kid was a soccer virtuoso! needless to say, it was the three of us together from that day forward. Every thursday we would get together and play soccer, basketball, nintendo. In those few years of my life, while taking abuse from my peers, I learnt a great lesson about discrimination.
It is now 12 years later and the Country is better than it has ever been. 10 years of affirmative action have just ended and the country is singing with pride and equal opportunity. There are still a few people clinging on to their fascist ideals, but the wrong doings of the past are being washed away as the new generation begins to take control of the nation. A few years ago I was privileged enough to presonally meet Nelson Mandela. He was old but he smiled at me and shook my hand.He was a really gental man, surprisingly so after being locked up for so many years by an oppresive government. He is one of my greatest heros (he even celebrated his 80th birthday with Fidel Castro).
I love my country and am proud of what my countrymen have acheived. And becuase of Vuvu, I will never forget how cruel people can be and how easily they can pass their ideas to their children.
If you are interested in finding out more about apartheid, check this link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apartheid, there is so much to be learned. Thank you for reading comrades.