A whole new world, a new point of view

Just a fair warning, this post contains a lot of ‘sensitive’ topics. I apologize if anything offends anyone, or if terms are not politically correct. This blog is used in a way to express my own individual feelings and observations.

A lot of people have been asking me what South Africa is like. On one extreme, people picture it as living in a 'mud hut' and the Hollywood-ized version of Africa with elephants and giraffes everywhere, while the other extreme is people comparing Cape Town to London. Cape Town does not fit either of these extremes. Below are some statistics from 2012 which may help to understand things:

• Total population of Cape Town: 3,740,025

• Percent unemployed: 23.8%

• Prevalence of HIV/AIDS: 19.1%

• Number of informal structures in informal settlements (i.e 'shacks' in townships): 129,918

• Percent of households living below the poverty line (<$11USD per day): 35.7%

Camps Bay (photo cred: Blue Waters restaurant)

This all being said, there are parts of Cape Town where the poverty line can definitely be seen, and other parts of Cape Town that almost seem like Miami. Cape Town has one of, if not the largest, gaps between the rich and the poor. One moment, you'll see shacks (see picture of Khayleitsha Township in Cape Town), and the next, you'll see beach homes that look like they could be owned by celebrities (see picture of Camps Bay in Cape Town). 

Khayelitsha (photo cred: The Guardian)

Some could explain that Cape Town's level of unequal wealth distribution represents a lack of freedom. In a reading for a course, I read that the lower class has a desire to be removed from the constrained realities of their lived experiences [and an] aspiration to be free." When I volunteered in Nyanga for Mandela day, one girl from South Africa explained that “there is a border between the nice life where the free people live, and where they aren’t free.” I connected this part of the reading to her statement, and began to think what really defines ‘freedom’. ‘Freedom’ is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as “the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants” and “the state of not being imprisoned or enslaved” South Africa celebrates Freedom Day on April 27, commemorating the end to Apartheid in 1994, but is South Africa really free?

The 'separate worlds' between the rich and the poor can be seen almost on a daily basis, and it’s made me beyond frustrated every time. In any major city, there are tourist traps. In Cape Town, these traps should just be called ‘middle-upper class white people traps’. From the first couple days here, we went to a mall. On the streets, it seemed similar to Broad Street in North Philadelphia (not exactly, but it’s the only thing I can compare it to). Once we got into the mall, we noticed fancy designer stores and the overall vibe of the place seemed different than the conditions outside. Looking around, I noticed most people were either white or colored, and looked as though they were middle or upper class. We also go to a market every Saturday, in which you have to walk through a pretty dodgy neighborhood to get there. I remember the first time going, I kept thinking “is this market safe?”. However, once we got into the brick barrier that separated the street from the market, it was like walking into a totally different world. I honestly did not see a single person who was not white, and it seemed like a very ‘hipster-ish’ environment that, again, only had middle or upper class people. Leaving the market, it’s like stepping back into a different world again, which homeless mothers and children waiting just outside the market begging for money. I mentioned my frustration to one of my friends, and he explained that “there are just some places that we [black people] know not to go to.”

This leads to my next observation and frustration. The racism here is still huge, even after two decades of the end of Apartheid. I’ve noticed in such little things, like on buses going to campus. If there are two seats open, one next to a white person and one next to a black person, the person who is looking for a seat will often choose the seat next to the person of color. In my first tutorial, I noticed that literally every white person sat on the left side of the room, and the black and colored people sat on the other side. Granted, I’m not sure if this is a coincidence, but I could not help but notice. I went to my friend’s soccer game over the weekend, and noticed his team was entirely black, and the other team was entirely white. After the game, I expressed how that upset me, and someone laughed and said, “Why would it bother you? That’s just the way Cape Town is.” But that’s not how it should be. I understand everyone has different cultural backgrounds, but that does not make us any less human or less capable of interacting with each other.

Being here has definitely pushed me out of my comfort zone, to say the least. That being said, I have learned more here in a month than I ever thought possible. My views of the world are constantly changing. At Arcadia, I took a class on racism. A required reading for this class was about white privilege (read it here). At University of Cape Town, one of my readings is the same article. I can’t even begin to explain how different my opinions are on that article after being here and truly noticing white privilege.