|
racial tensions ... i could write reams about this, living in south africa. racism is still very prevalent here. i cant really say which groups are most racist towards each other since there is so much between black and white, coloured and indian, black and black [indigenous black people vs nigerians/zimbabweans/kenyans/angolans/zambians who emigrate to here], black and coloured, black and indian, white and coloured, white and indian etc etc you get the picture.
people here also have a tendency to think its ok to be racist if they were a previously disadvantaged group. [reminds me of what cirrus said]
apartheid wasnt made illegal that long ago, so i still remember what the segregated beaches / buses / trains etc were like. but funny, when youre young ... you dont really realise how unfair a specific systems is. then you get a little older and the full force of it hits you. one of the first things the last apartheid govt did was make certain previously "all white" schools into something they called "model c" which meant that coloured/indian/black children who could afford the school fees [i.e. middle to upper class non white people] would be allowed to attend schools with white children. this lead to an exodus of rich white children from these model c schools into impossibly expensive private schools -- many white parents didnt want their children mixing with the "others" you know.
the saddest part is, non white people rushed to send their children to model c schools and craved the acceptance of the white parental counterparts. keeping up with the joneses reached a whole new level.
i remember terrible things about apartheid. my sisters being blacklisted from their teaching posts for being pro ANC. my dad and i spending weekends tearing up anc pamphlets and anc member lists because his house was going to be raided by the security branch of the sap [south african police] since my sisters were suspected of treason against the [apartheid] goverment. my cousin being thrown into jail for 11 months for having a poster of nelson mandela on his bedroom wall.
anyway, its bed time. more stories at another time if anyone is interested.
|