More than anything this will be an update.
It's funny how a year in a completely foreign place has changed me, or just allowed me to grow in a new direction. I feel older and more understanding towards a country, or I could even say a continent that I would never have understood if I hadn't moved here. I feel so very fortunate to have the background I do to stay strong in a place where judgement and preconceptions rule over people. While I do find it hard to trust your average stranger here, I haven't lost that love for the world and the people in it and I just hope and pray everyday that that won't fade or go away.
Over a year ago there was an awful blogger that read my posts and constantly told me that my mind would change after a few months of living in Johannesburg. He said that I would realize there is in fact a difference in race and that being born one colour can mean that you are naturally better or worse at this or that you are more supieror or inferior to another race. After a year in South Africa I can understand why he would think this way, because i've met many people that share his ideas, and I think finally after a year of being angry with these people I have tried and allowed myself to understand them. Thankfully my boyfriend and I do not and will never share these ideas, but he has taught me to just listen. I have, and the more I do the more I thank my lucky stars that I grew up in Canada, or even more, in the home that I did where colour and race was never even a conversation peice. People were what they were, I saw and learned that there were no differences or traits in those that looked different from me. They were just another kid in my class or another neighbour that could cook really good exotic food. Never once did I think differently of these people as my parents and my surroundings never taught me that I needed to. Growing older, the race jokes started to come out and I started to learn about this thing called "racism". It wasn't really until University and travelling where my eyes started to open to the outside world and I began to understand that some people are really angry with other people just because of the way they look and act. Then I met my boyfriend, fell in love and moved to South Africa where I was so horrified to hear this race slang that was all around me. I couldn't believe that I was in a place where race was the main topic. After a year of living here, I have thrown myself in head first, trying to fit in and understand why people think the way they do. My conclusion for South Africa thus far is this.
Being the baby democracy that it is, and going through something like apartheid, these ideas and judgements people hold about the English, Afrikaans, or Zulus (not to mentions all the other cultures that exist in this country) have been built into their heads since birth. Only in the last 10 plus years since races have been forced to work side by side and learn one another are things starting to change. I dont think my generation that is South African will change their views anytime soon, but their childrens views will certainly be different, as well as their childrens children and so on. My friend asked me, "when do you think racism will truly end", I said "only when we all look the same". And I believe that, if it's not South Africa it's Spain, if it's not Spain it's the US, if its not the US than its Australia, if its not Australia then it's Canada. When you have a country with a population that is indigenous to the country and another population that come from those that colonized the country there are problems. There is also the evergrowing situation of the immigration influx, and all the problems that are arising from that. It is all around, and South Africa is a prime example. When will it actually stop? Not in my lifetime, probably not in my kids. It's really just a vicious, sad circle and people don't realize that by saying that slang to be funny or by passing that comment really just keeps the circle going around and around.
So what is the answer? What more can I say? I'm just living my life here in Johannesburg, learning and hoping that by loving and understanding maybe the attitude will rub off on others, maybe just maybe if they listen to me like I listen to them we can learn from one another and help the world get better a little faster.
