The manicured lawns are immaculate, and the infrastructure in most of South Africa is world class. The “white” neighborhoods in Cape Town and Johannesburg are pristine, with massive bungalows guarded by high walls and electric fencing. Luxury cars zip around the city, as if they own the road. The gourmet restaurants and bars bustle with cheer and celebration.
And then there is the other world, which is “black”. On the outskirts of the city, row after row of shanty houses slapped together with whatever material was available. Here the focus is on survival. This is the reality, for the most part, of the almost 90 percent of black Africans, in South Africa.
These two worlds rarely collide. At best, they coexist, with guarded chasms. I have seen it in the caste system in India, in apartheid in South Africa, and blatant racism in America. Parallel worlds defined by race and caste and ethnicity, constantly tear into the social fabric of almost every community and country.
When will we ever become blind to color? When will their ever be equity in resources and opportunity? When will the healing ever begin? I clearly don’t have any answers, but we all have to do a lot of soul searching to find the solution. Somehow, the answers lie within each of us……
About Hemant Rustogi
Rusty, it must be something to see the physical divide there in South Africa. Growing up in the South in the US, there is definitely an “invisible wall” in many areas here. Here in the US, I feel that it’s starting to become more of a social class issue than a race issue, which to me seems much easier to “fix” by volunteering, scholarships, etc. The racism that still exists in this country on all sides still scares me though.