I am surprised by how similar the history of the US and South Africa are. I never knew about the townships in South Africa and how they are pretty much identical to our Native American reservations. Also, many of the events seemed to resemble our Civil Rights Movement in the US, but theirs just occurred many years later. I am also shocked by the amount of diversity there. I always thought it was just black and white, but the country is made up of Xhosa, Zulu, Ndebele, Swazi, Afrikaners, etc. I think this is the country's greatest strength and weakness. There is so much potential for greatness when people of all different cultures come together, however, reaching this greatness can be quite difficult, especially coming off the heels of apartheid. It may take many more years until we start to see equality in South Africa. Our Civil Rights Movement was over 50 years ago, and we still see injustice and inequality between races. I was most interested reading about Africa's plans to empower women at the AU summit because I am very passionate about women's rights. They specifically want to put an end to child marriages. I'm glad to see that they are thinking of ways to help and protect women.
My question for Mr. Gilmour is: Since Apartheid has ended, is it still considered taboo to see black and white relationships, friendships, marriages, etc.?
Katie, I enjoyed reading your post! I too believe that overcoming the aftermath of apartheid will be one of South Africa's bigger challenges. The AU summit sounds really interesting, as I am too, interested in women's rights.
ReplyDelete