WARNING – this post is a little bit
everywhere. I mean that literally: Kenya, Germany, England, the USA, India, and South Africa not to
mention all the time periods… But fear not, I tried to make it fun.
I
should have written this blog right after leaving SA, but I still needed to
write my December blog so I put it off.
To be honest I also put it off because I wanted more time to think about my experiences and how to translate all of my thoughts and feelings into a
coherent blog post. My experience in
Cape Town was amazing overall; the city
truly has everything: beautiful mountains, sandy beaches, diverse cuisines,
beautiful art, and my personal favorite, a fascinating history.
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| Sandy beaches |
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| Table Mountain |
One
of my favorite courses at Grinnell College was my history class on Southern
Africa. The class was especially
memorable due to our unique final project.
Rather than write a paper or give a presentation, each student was given
a different person/political party/interest group to represent as our class
worked together, and often against one another, to create a new constitution
for post-apartheid South Africa. I was
given the Umkhonto we Sizwe, abbreviated as MK, which is Zulu for “spear of the
nation”. The MK was a military branch of
the African National Congress, or the ANC, and was co-founded by Nelson
Mandela. The MK was founded in response
to the Sharpeville massacre in the belief that the ANC could no longer
effectively fight apartheid with nonviolent protest. The MK was soon classified as a terrorist
organization by the South African government and the United States. Nelson Mandela justified the creation of the MK
in his I am Prepared to Die speech
saying, “I, and
some colleagues, came to the conclusion that as violence in this country was
inevitable, it would be unrealistic and wrong for African leaders to continue
preaching peace and non-violence at a time when the government met our peaceful
demands with force.” Sorry, I just
realized I went all history-major on you and haven’t gotten to the point at
all. The point is, through this activity,
I became fascinated with the process of peace building. I also learned that the
history of apartheid is not as black and white as it might seem (forgive the
unintended tasteless pun). I found that
our class discussions were not one side vs the other, but that there were many
disagreements within each group. In
fact, as the MK, I was given the power to utilize force against a group, and
was surprised that in the end I used this power only once, against another
black South African interest group.
Not only was the class assignment so
unique, but the actual peace building process at work was also distinct from
any method I had learned about previously.
Let’s backtrack some. The term
apartheid originates from the Afrikaans word “apart” meaning apart and “heid”
meaning hood. A literal translation of
apartheid is therefore simply apart-hood, or separation. With this definition I could make a long list
of historical moments of ‘apartheid’. To
name a few obvious ones: The USA from 1877-1954, almost the entirety of Europe
from 1939-1945, India and Pakistan from 1947 on, Palestine from 1947 to today, Rwanda
in 1994 for approximately 100 terrifying days, the USA from 1941 to 1946, and
Kenya from 1952-1960 to name a few.
Really I could go on forever. In
fact, looking back at these examples, I should expand the dates massively
considering the definition of apartheid simply as separation. For instance, I can’t really limit
‘apart-hood’ in the USA to the dates of the Jim Crow laws, and instead should
start with recognition of slavery in the Declaration of Independence in 1776. If we look at the United States alone, I
would argue that we have been in a consistent state of ‘apart-hood’ from our
creation until 1954. And can we really
stop there?
Again I’m straying from the point…
The point is, that apartheid in SA was, in my opinion, unique from all these other moments of separation in our history.
Not because of the brutal pass-laws, or the over-crowded townships, or
even because of the obvious intentional ignorance from the rest of the world; unfortunately violence, the trashing of basic human rights, and sheer idiocy
can be traced from the beginning of civilization to today. Instead, I see South Africa’s history as
unique because of how apartheid ended.
You see, most students learn history by jumping from Western war to Western war: war of
independence, civil war, French revolution, WWI, WWII, Cold War, etc. But I think a more interesting timeline of history is what happens in between.
Wars are the most boring historical moments. I mean come on, how many times do you want to read about one white guy killing another white guy on some random
battlefield. BORING. Instead, let’s talk about what events led to
the meeting of these unfortunate white dudes, and the consequences of their
so-called ‘heroism’ (I won't even go into the need to focus on a broader group than 'white dudes', cause that is not what my blog is about today). This is what makes
South African Apartheid unique: the aftermath.
I realize this blog post is already
getting long and I still haven’t really gotten to my experiences in Cape Town,
but I’m going to allow myself to history-major all over the place one more
time. Let’s look at some important past
attempts at post-war peace building:
Going back to WWI, the allies did a
pretty bad job dealing with the consequences of a World War. The response was to punish the
perpetrators and teach Germany a lesson. One of the many provisions, called the War
Guilt clause, of the Treaty of Versailles required “Germany [to] accept the
responsibility of Germany and her allies for causing all the loss and
damage.” Germany was forced to disarm,
make huge territorial concessions, and pay what amounted to $31.4 billion in
reparations. Germany was pretty much
grounded, put in time-out, and spanked all at once. No one will ever misbehave again, well-done
allies… Right? If you don't know where this is going, you've been living in a box. Anyway, this left Germany in
a pretty bad spot to say the least. By
November 1923, the American dollar was worth 4,210,500,000,000 German
marks. No I didn’t accidentally add an extra
zero or six. Germans had to spend their
money immediately, before inflation caused their pay to be worthless once
again. People were literally running
from their workplace to the bakery with their pay in wheelbarrows. Supposedly a compulsion called zero stroke broke out where people had
the desire to write endless rows of zeros… okay that might not be true, but
come on, the point is post-WWI Germany was the pits. And guess what happens when people become
desperate? They elect Hitler. Maybe that was a dramatic generalization, not all desperate
people turn to Hitler, I for example turned to ice cream and Netflix the last
time I was desperate. All joking aside,
the Treaty of Versailles left Germany in a place where the only viable answer
seemed to be the charismatic and charming Adolf Hitler. Soon enough the Czech Republic, and every
other European country, found that Germany was no longer disarmed, was taking
back conceded territories with their eyes on new land, and had essentially left
time-out without permission. England,
the USA, and France all did a nice big face-palm and fought their way out of
that blunder (not to mention the additional slipup called appeasement) with a
little (a lot) of help from good ol’ Stalin (to their great
embarrassment). The allies thought they
had learned from their mistakes and, during the Yalta Conference, made sure to stick
around for longer to supervise post-WWII Germany. They brilliantly separated Germany into three
parts, leading, of course, to the Berlin Wall… okay arguably better than Hitler,
but still not great. However, in the
rush to make everyone happy, the USA and England pissed off some other people. When faced with a very displeased (to say the
least) Jewish population who didn’t have homes or jobs to return to (assuming
they wanted to return at all), the two post-war super-powers thought it would
be a good idea to give them somewhere new to live. Who cares if there are people living there already, they're brownish and call God Allah. And 6,000,000 of the Jews were brutally murdered by the Nazis, not to mention the countless pogroms. It’s the least they could do right? Bam… Israel.
Good one guys, really you nailed it.
I did say that idiocy is a trait that can be found in almost every
historical moment, and this was no exception.
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| Holocaust Memorial in Berlin |
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| Berlin Wall |
Now that I’ve given you some
background, let’s return to South Africa in 1990.
At this point Nelson Mandela had sat in his cell on Robben Island for 18
years, and been moved to serve another nine elsewhere. During his long time behind bars, he
successfully cultivated a garden… oh and he hid his completed manuscript Long Walk
to Freedom in the garden. Almost forgot about that
small detail. With all the time alone
with his thoughts, I would like to believe he pondered the mistakes
of past peace-builders. He was finally
released in February, a man ready to make peace like no one ever had before. Gandhi particularly inspired Mandela, which may be obvious due to their many similarities: imprisoned for many years by British colonial rule using extreme separation to subdue the uncivilized brown (I hope you know I'm using this politically incorrect term to make a point) people. Anyway, I
think Nelson took one of Mahatma’s famous quotes to heart: “An eye for an eye makes the whole world
blind.” Nelson knew that taking revenge
on the suppressors would only leave SA in a worse position than they began. With this important lesson in mind, Mandela
led SA to a completely new peace building process: reconciliation. Nelson walked out of prison, proceeded to
tour the world to pull one country after another out of their deliberate
ignorance (despite being considered a communist terrorist by Reagan and
Thatcher), and finally proceeded to sit down with the Nationalist President
F.W. de Klerk to abolish apartheid and establish multi-racial elections only to
become SA’s first black president. As if
that wasn’t enough, he invited other political parties to join the cabinet, and
promulgated a brand new constitution.
The cherry on top was the Truth and Reconciliation Commission created to
investigate past human rights abuses.
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| Nelson Mandela's cell on Robben Island |
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| The ship that took prisoners to Robben Island, often through very rough waters |
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| On the boat to Robben Island |
I was never all that interested in
Catholicism, but that guy is a saint. In
fact, I’m going to sing his praises for another few sentences. While in prison, as a firm believer that education is the best weapon in anyone’s arsenal, he formed the University of Robben
Island where prisoners lectured on their areas of expertise. Mandela was technically Christian, but, being
the open-minded man he was, also studied Islam.
He studied Afrikaans, despite it being the language of the oppressors,
hoping build a mutual respect with the warders and convert them to his
cause. He built relationships with every
possible group, from the white warders, to his ANC visitors, to the young
radical Black Consciousness Movement prisoners despite conflicting
beliefs. As president he combatted poverty,
encouraged land reform, and expanded healthcare, only to decline to run for a
second term. Instead, he focused on
charitable work to combat poverty and HIV/AIDS through his Nelson Mandela
Foundation. I don’t think there has ever
been a better man. In Southern Africa,
many people still refer to Mandela as Madiba, meaning father, and I absolutely
love it.
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| The Madiba is everywhere |
Okay back to the TRC. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was a
court-like restorative justice body. The
goal of the TRC was to bear witness to, record, and in some cases grant amnesty
to the perpetrators of human rights violations.
The TRC had three committees: one to investigate human rights abuses, one to restore victims’ dignity and assist
with rehabilitation, and one to consider applications for amnesty. The hearings were public, allowing the entire
population to take part in the trials simply by watching. The TRC granted amnesty to those whose crimes
were politically motivated, proportionate, and only when there was full disclosure
by the person seeking amnesty. In
addition, no side was exempt from appearing before the commission, and the
commission heard reports from everyone from the apartheid state to the
liberation forces, including the ANC.
Though many maybe correctly believe
that justice is a prerequisite to reconciliation rather than an alternative to
it, I believe the TRC was, at least, a promising method for peace
building. The TRC was far from flawless,
and it is impossible for everyone to be happy after something as horrendous as
apartheid. Perhaps truth and
reconciliation are only the first step in a longer process of justice, and we have yet to figure out the next steps. However, in comparison to past attempts to overcome
extreme violence, I think the TRC was much more successful than the Treaty of
Versailles or the Potsdam conference. I
know I’m give extreme examples, but WWI, WWII, and
apartheid were all extreme instances of violence. Regardless of varying perceptions of the TRC,
it was, and still is, a fascinating experiment.
And now, without further ado, I’ll finally get to my experiences in Cape
Town:
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| Whoops that's not Cape Town... |
JK I’m going to talk about Germany
some more. I distinctly remember my time
in Germany as being quiet and muffled.
There is a strong sense of shame in Berlin, and no one mentions Hitler
or the Nazis. I encourage you to check
out a full explanation of my experiences in Berlin in one of my old, and I
think best, blog posts, called The Fatherland. My experience in Cape Town stands in
stark contrast to my time in Berlin. The
city was bright and cheerful, boasting culture around every street
corner. During my visit to Robben
Island, I caught up to my guide to privately ask him why he was imprisoned on
the island during apartheid. He told me
that he led riots at his school during the Soweto uprisings. Unlike in Germany, anyone above the age of 25
can remember their own experience of apartheid.
In Germany, the wounds of WWI and II, not to mention the gash of the
Cold War, have been wrapped and padded in yellowing gauze while everyone walks
around careful not to upset old injuries.
In Cape Town, the big bright band-aid known as the TRC is new, covered in
cartoon characters, and probably waterproof. However, historians, including myself, don’t have the
same perspective on apartheid that we have on WWI and II. We can easily review the mistakes of the
Treaty of Versailles now that the consequences are laid out in a full timeline
leading to WWII. I can only guess what
the consequences of reconciliation in SA will be, but I am hopeful to say the
least. Based on my experiences in Cape
Town, it seems this injury won’t be covered with the goal of forgetting, but
instead has the chance to heal into scar standing as a proud symbol for the
power of reconciliation and forgiveness.
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| Colorful Cape Town culture |
Despite my optimism and deep love
for all things Mandela, including the TRC, I realize my view is extremely
flawed. While I saw Cape Town as bright
and bustling, I cannot ignore the fact that my view was extremely limited. For example, every tour company boasts guided
walks through townships during the day.
Each of these advertisements is paired with a bold warning in red not to
walk through these areas alone or at night.
The thought of parading through a low-income black neighborhood as a
privileged white tourist, doubtlessly with other privileged white tourists with
their expensive cameras hanging over their brand new t-shirts sporting various
random Mandela quotes, sounds like the a tasteless SNL sketch, or maybe an edgy new
comic by Charlie Hebdo. For this reason, I
never visited a township during my stay in Cape Town. I got the chance to explore other parts of
the city on foot, though this was limited to specificly white-tourist-approved zones. I'm not sure how a privileged white female tourist could possibly see the darker side of Cape Town without putting themselves in danger of at least an almost assured mugging. I did see the dark side once when driving out to Cape
Point on my first day only to pass two men beating another man to a
pulp, though this could have happened in any city I suppose and therefore did not necessarily have any connection to the TRC or apartheid leftovers. Despite the proud culture and
history on display in Cape Town, violence and remaining segregation is equally
visible if you only sneak past the shiny band-aid called TRC. All in all, as a future international lawyer
and peace-builder, I am sitting on the edge of my seat watching the aftermath
of apartheid and the TRC play out.
Regardless of the results, the world is in desperate need of new and
effective methods to move forward from violence. One only need look towards the Middle East to
understand my hope that truth and reconciliation can overcome hate and violence.
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| In our rental car shortly before we saw a guy getting beat up |
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| View of Cape of Good Hope from Cape Point |
After this novel of a blog post, I
will save you from a summary of my activities in Cape Town, and simply refer
you to my Facebook photo album to get an idea of where I was and to see the
stunning city of Cape Town. I also
encourage everyone ever to read Mandela’s Long
Walk to Freedom, as it is one of the most inspiring books I’ve ever
read. Actually, if you want any
recommendations of books about any of the time periods I talked about,
just ask. Start with Kaffir Boy, it’s one of the best books about apartheid in SA. I'm also interested to hear other opinions of the TRC, and hopeful that I will get to study it in more depth in the coming years. To wrap up, I’ll go back to the great Mandela to end this
seemingly endless post, despite the fact that this quote is probably hiding
beneath an expensive camera hanging around some privileged white tourist’s neck
on a township tour right now:
“No one
is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his
background, or his religion. People must
learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for
love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.”
- Madiba
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| Overlook beautiful Cape Town from the top of Table Mountain |
