8 . Freedom

Racism is an incredible phenomenon! It has literally torn apart nations and left them in utter devastation! Coming from the deep south in the States, I had seen my fair share of it before even stepping foot into South Africa.
It is hard to believe that in the day and age we live in there are still small minded people running around flying the rebel flag, with bumper stickers that say things like, “The South will rise again!”, but it is true. There are still people in these times that are ignorant enough to judge someone merely by the color of their skin.
That is what happened in South Africa for years, and still happens to this day.
For years, through the government of the Apartheid era, non-whites were oppressed and pushed down. Now, I am not one to dwell on the past, but I also strongly feel like the only way to move forward, is to first look back.
I have seen both sides. Some people want to dwell on the past and use it as an excuse to not move forward. Others, probably because of feelings of guilt, say that we should “forget about it and move on” because what happened happened and now it is over.
Yes, what happened did happen, but I feel it is far from over.
The residue of Apartheid is still present in Cape Town and in South Africa as a whole. It is maybe even more obvious when working with the street kids.
A “handout” mentality was developed and some have been subjected to depend on others for survival in an unhealthy way, and are not offered proper health care, education and other social services. What happened is devastating and it adds an extra dimension to the street kid problem.
Many of the kids feel like the white people “owe them”, and will even get angry sometimes if a white person does not give them money when they are begging.
Some will say that those days are over but I have seen people walking around in chains, though they have been “free” since 1994. The struggle is far from over. The sweat, blood, tears, sacrifice and determination of many people, from all races and social standings gave the people of this country the right to live in freedom and equality.
The status of freedom was fought for and won, but I heard something once that I will never forget. It is that freedom is not a physical state of being, but rather a psychological state of mind. True freedom cannot be given or taken away by anyone.
A person can be free living under an oppressive government or in jail, and at the same time a person can be bound living in the “free world”.

It is amazing to me to talk to the younger generations who don’t even know what Apartheid is. Things are starting to change. It has only been ten years. But ten years is not enough to make up for years and years of injustices and it will take years to rebuild the New South Africa.
I am proud to be able to take part in breaking the mindsets and mentalities of all the different races. To get funny looks from people when sitting on the streets talking with a group of street kids, to have white South Africans say, “You drive in THOSE areas?!” when we talk about me going into the townships, and to have some of the kids tell me that I am not like most of the white people they know.
These are all things that begin to free minds, even if it is one mind at a time.