Week 8: Top 10 Resources for Understanding South Africa

Here's my aggregated list of the top ten resources to look at before we depart for South Africa:

1. Interactive PBS timeline: In the case of studying an entire nation's history, context is important to be able to digest any contemporary news. This one pinpoints significant political and social events in South Africa that led up to the collapse of the apartheid system.
2. South Africa's Ticking Time Bomb: Not the most encouraging title, but an important read about the reality of youth unemployment and the country's economic crisis. 
3. Factbox: South Africa since Apartheid: For the best story-telling, a mix of anecdotal and hard evidence is needed. This article provides the gritty details of what the ANC has managed to improve (or not) in the nation since 1994. 
4. Not White Enough, Not Black Enough: The history of the word "colored" in the United States is starkly different from what it means to be "colored" in South Africa. This is an important (and well-written!) op-ed that explains the history of the arbitrary way in which racial identity was - and still is - determined in South Africa.
5. Realizing Women's Humans Rights in South Africa: You would think that the collapse of the apartheid system would advance human rights for black men AND women, but an unintended dynamic has emerged: "Women feel they have to choose between preserving culture and promoting human rights. In a society where the majority of its citizens’ culture was assaulted for centuries, cultural preservation is a priority in black African communities. Today women discuss the way men use their desire to preserve culture as a reason for continued gender violence."
6. Here's how South African students talk about race and gender: This article - made up of interviews with a variety of South African students - demonstrates that young people are conscious of what is left to be improved in the nation.
7. Op-Ed: In South Africa, it's often said that being gay is a "Western" thing: We've talked race and gender. Now it's time to discuss sexuality. This article states that the stress on "cultural identity" post-apartheid emphasizes traditional, conservative family values and that homosexuality is viewed as a legacy leftover from colonial westerners.
8. Invictus trailer: Let's take a break from all the heavy reading. This movie tells the story of how Nelson Mandela used the unifying power of sport to bring together apartheid-torn South Africa. His challenge? Rallying the national rugby team to the 1995 World Cup Championship match in the fresh aftermath of the collapse of the apartheid system. 
9. Ultimate Bucket List Trip: South Africa: Let us not forget that South Africa is a beautiful country - not only its people, but the land itself. This article goes beyond the typical safari recommendations and suggests tips for appreciating Capetown's landscape.
10. District 9: A must-watch. Not only because it's just a good movie, but because it reflects the ugly parts of the human experience that manifest when we maintain an "us" vs. "them" mentality (i.e. xenophobia, segregation). The premise is that aliens (named 'Prawns') land on Earth with no malicious intent; their planet is dying and they're seeking a new home. Instead, they're confined to a militarized ghetto called District 9 in apartheid-era South Africa. I'll hold my tongue about the rest, but here's a fun fact: The producer is Peter Jackson, same guy that produced the Lord of the Rings trilogy. 

Week 7: Exchanging Ideas

I'm really glad we spent time doing independent research on South Africa. I'm always down for reading contemporary news articles or feature stories on current events and issues.

After taking a look at the blog's of my peers, I decided to read the PRI story "Here's how South African students talk about race and gender" that Maria posted because I wanted to hear the thoughts of young people in the country we'll be visiting. I appreciated the simple format of the article, of expressing the thoughts of each of the students edited for conciseness. They brought up a lot of relatable issues, from cat-calling/objectification to gender norms (i.e. women and men expected to like certain things, work in certain fields, etc.) to rape. The students' thoughts were very developed making it clear they had discussed the issues of gender, race and class/privilege before - as many of them mentioned, it's a daily conversation in South Africa. I appreciate their openness and their acknowledgement of their personal identities.

The prevalence of rape in South Africa makes me angry... My mum brought it up on the phone with me the other day when we were discussing my upcoming trip. I know she wants me to be aware of my surroundings and think about protection, which is all good advice. But I have always been of the mindset that it shouldn't be my responsibility to be constantly watching my back, so I can get defensive when someone pushes the topic of self-defense on me. I suppose I'm too idealistic (naive?) and we don't live in an ideal world, so taking into the context where I am is the smartest idea.

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I also looked into this The Economist article suggested by Katie about coloured people in South Africa, which powerfully leads with "If Barack Obama lived in South Africa, he might be called a coloured. Under apartheid, the government decided to which of four racial categories a South African belonged - black, coloured, Indian/Asian or white - depending mostly on looks" to show how arbitrary that classification is.  The term itself is confusing given the history of the word "colored" in the United States. The article confirms a point Austin brought up in class, that coloured people are now perceived as being at the "bottom of the ladder" in terms of economic development post-apartheid, because blacks get priority. But who makes the identification?

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Lastly, I can't stress enough the importance of the Power & Privilege Definitions document that Joshua provided. The resource is so helpful, because even though the meaning of some of the words may seem obvious, having all of the relevant terminology laid out like that clears away any doubt or confusion. For example, I knew what internalized oppression was before reviewing the document but I don't think I could have coherently verbalized it on my own.

Week 6: So, What's the Real Story?

After watching Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, there's still many questions I had left unanswered. A movie - even a two and a half hour one -  cannot comprehensively convey decades of history. Luckily, the Internet exists and we all have the privilege of access to open information.

An Umkhonto poster calling women to rise up against the anti-apartheid regime.

One lingering thought I had watching the film was about Mandela's approach to the anti-apartheid movement. The movie, which focused heavily on Mandela's time in prison, didn't give much context about his activities beforehand and starkly contrasted Mandela's "peaceful" nature compared to his then-wife's violent approach. But Mandela was actually labeled a "terrorist" in the past by the West, although no one dares call him that nowadays. I was surprised to find this Washington Post article  that talked about the misconception that Mandela was a peaceful revolutionary, like India's Gandhi. On the contrary, the article states that Mandela advocated violent resistance against the apartheid government when peaceful efforts had failed (he specifically stated "only then did we decide to answer violence with violence" at his 1964 trial). After the massacre in the Sharpeville township in 1960, Mandela co-founded the paramilitary arm of the African National Congress, called Umkhonto we Size or "Spear of the Nation," which sabotaged economic and political institutions (i.e. state buildings and infrastructure).

With so much mention of the Sharpeville massacre as a critical turning point in the fight against apartheid in my research, I wanted to know the specific details of what occurred that day to understand the context of its effects. 

What happened?

Source from ANC archives, unknown photographer, 21st March 1960

A crowd of 5,000 to 7,000 black South Africans assembled in front of a police station in the township of Sharpeville to protest against the Pass laws (internal passport system designed to enforce segregation and limit/control the movement of black South Africans). Police shot into the crowd, killing 69 people and injuring about 180 (children, men and women). 

What came of it?

The significance of the massacre was massive. Internally, anti-apartheid groups such as the African National Congress and the Pan-Africanist Congress grew militant and demonstrations, riots and marches abounded in the following weeks. International criticism of the apartheid regime grew, including UN condemnation.

Many of the protestors were gunned down while running away from the police officers, with their backs turned. Photo: Bailey's African History Archives

And now we arrive to the now.

When Mr. David Gilmour spoke to our class, he told us that all South Africans are friendly people but he wished that they would interact with one another more. That isn't to say that people of different races are UNfriendly, more that they occupy different spaces. I wanted to look more into race relations in today's South Africa, and found an NPR article that painted a country that still has a lot of work to do but is moving in the right direction. From it, I learned that young black South Africans born after the fall of apartheid in 1994 are known as "Born Frees" and that they are "colorblind, focusing not so much on the once-divisive issues of race and color, but on economic opportunities and development." I'm going to take the word "colorblind" with a grain of salt, because the legacy of apartheid and race divisions in the nation are inevitably intertwined with current socioeconomic realities. Additionally, the article only represents a handful of testimonies from black South Africans. But it is good to see that the younger generation seems hopeful for the future.