By Nicole Hodnett
Deep within the depths of our human psyche, apartheid still stays etched within us. No matter how much we strive to look pass our differences; there is some narrow person that stays stuck back in that horrid time.
Apartheid was a system of legal racial separation which dominated the Republic of South Africa from 1948 until 1993.According to Wise Geek, mechanisms of apartheid were set in way before 1948, and South Africa continues to deal with the repercussions .Under Apartheid various races were separated into different regions.
According to an article by Heidi Burgess, stereotypes are generalizations or assumptions that people make about the characteristics of all members of a group based on an image(often wrong)about what people in that group are like.
The other day I had an interesting conversation with my 81 year old grandmother about the stereotypes back in the day.
‘The old government was preferable to the new one as I feel the rife corruption in the midst of today’s people”, she said.
Will the after effects of Apartheid ever leave us? It seems like we will forever have to hide, run away from the fact that God made us in His own beautiful image and likeness. If the “white” man was superior, God would have made the entire world “white”.
After 1994 when South Africa turned Democratic, people had the freedom to explore the barrier of mixing with other race groups resulting in interracial relationships and marriages.
According to an article by Nadia Kareem, it’s also important to examine your motives for entering such a union.
According to a dictionary meaning, the meaning of tainted is to affect with decay or spoil.
I work for a Human Rights organisation. Art for Humanity stands for all things democratic; we touch base on what affects us in this ‘ever tainted” society.
Dialogue Artist-Kim Berman |
I think of Kim Berman in her Art in the Dialogue project and how she shows a representation of what racism is all about.
We break silences on what couldn’t be broken back in the old days of Apartheid when our forefathers would get locked up in their fight for freedom of expression.
It started in the first grade when my teacher called me to the front of the class for news week.
"I would cringe".
Nicole Hodnett |
It all started in that legendary Garden of Eden where Adam given strict instructions by God not to touch the forbidden fruit, still went ahead defiant and ate that apple and influencing Eve to taste it too.
These days we meant to be free, have the ability to allow the apartheid era to leave us.
Is this all through colour? Is our South Africa still so caught up on racism?
Nelson Mandela |
I look up to Nelson Mandela for his fight against the struggles of Apartheid and showing people that we have the potential as a rainbow nation.