“I believe that children are our future. Teach them well…” ~ A look into the condition of the youth in both the Detroit, and South African context- PART 2:

 Get on your mark…get set…GO! ~ A look into the affects of apartheid of “race” relations on opportunities for people in South Africa

There are 3 major racial groupings in South Africa: White, Coloured, and Indian/Black. The social hierarchy is in that order as well. During apartheid, similar to Jim Crow, there were racially designated public facilities, restaurants, and schools.  Black, Indian and White people are self-explanatory. However, unlike in the United States however, “coloured” only categorizes what Americans call “biracial” or “racially ambiguous” people. The coloured community ranges from people who look like they are native to the island of Hawaii, to people who look Native American. During the period of Apartheid, the government required every single citizen to be categorized into one of those racial groups and to carry around an Identification card that ID’d you as such. As you know black people can range in skin complexion as well as hair texture. To clarify this potential ambiguity, the Apartheid of South Africa implemented the “pencil test.” If there was confusion about rather a person is black or “coloured,” they would have the person bow their head, and the official would try to put a pencil through their hair. If it went through, they were labeled as “coloured,” and of course if the pencil got stuck, they would then be identified as “black. 

            As a result of the above history, the country of South Africa is very racialized. Although apartheid is outlawed, and students can legally attend any school of their choice regardless of their race, the schools in South Africa still remain very segregated. Most of the children that I work with in the school could be considered “black” in America. Apparently there was an influx of black students being bused and taxied in from “townships” and poorer, historically black areas/schools. This is a trend that has happened since apartheid was officially disbanded in 1994. In theory it’s great: black and couloured people moving up from their previously oppressive environments. Unfortuantely however, the statistics show that while many black students are going to historically “coloured” schools, very few, (and I mean FEW) actually are able to attend the historically “white” schools.  Because Cape Town is still very segregated racially, many of my black students have to take 3 modes of transportation in the morning just to get to the school I am working at, Ned Doman- a historically “couloured” school. S/N: on top of that, Ned Doman’s academic standards are not very high anyway. But that’s a conversation for Part 3 of this post...

Furthermore, even with these “open” educational opportunities, many historically oppressed communities are still unable to progress. The area that I am staying in is a “middle class” area, that was historically designated for “whites only” and now many “coloured people” populate this area. However, the only Black Africans adults that I see here are either selling car chargers on the side of the road, monitoring the parking structures, or cleaning houses (like the lady who cooked and cleaned for us for the first 2 weeks while living at Deo-Gratia).  Interesting huh?

Now for many of my Detroit-dwellers who know their history, my observations of the South African school system parallel in many ways to the current condition of the youth of Detroit. Detroit has been cited as one of the most segregated cities in the United States of America. And when you look at the quality of the education, and the subsequent opportunities for advancement in the metropolitan area, you will see a clear stratification between classes (which unfortunately is another word of “race” in our country). While we are much better off living in a developed country, our shared histories suggest that black people may be struggling for quite some time before total equity is reached in either country.