Friday May 29, 2009...Apartheid Museum

Friday May 29

Today we went to the apartheid museum. It was shocking to hear the history behind this, never learning anything about it before in grade school. Learning about segregation in the United States, it was hard learning that similar things were happening in South Africa up until 1991. We heard about how the blacks were imprisoned on the sole purpose of being black. They passed laws insuring that blacks could only get to a certain level of education so as not to become too intelligent and keep them as maids and servants. In schools, blacks got the hand-me-down furniture from the whites, did their school work on dirty floors, and had little textbooks and resources to work with. Many people were imprisoned for ‘made up reasons.’ Blacks sometimes spent 90 days in small brick cells with little or no sunlight and no restroom. The apartheid categorized everyone. One man ‘started out’ as being black. He lived in the slums and was very poor. Then one day the apartheid came around and re-categorized him. Based on where he was born and the color of his father, he should be considered white. From then on the man lived in a nice house and had a nice job. Even though this was a blessing for this man, many others ‘started off’ as white, and their lives would completely change if they were changed to a black category.

Our taxi driver was actually a part of the apartheid. He shared his personal and moving stories with us. It was interesting to hear firsthand how badly he was treated due to the apartheid. His high school was one of the first to protest about the apartheid. Many of his classmates were killed because of this. It’s unimaginable to think that this could happen to someone.

It was hard listening to how humans treated other humans, not based on the content of their character but on the color of their skin. Being in the South Africa, we can still see some effects of the apartheid. Although there is not segregation any longer, it still plays a part in people’s lives.

We spend the afternoon shopping at the markets where we found many good South African items and learned the art of bartering. We actually saw a model and an actor.

That night, Martin called two of his young friends to escort us out on the town and experience the night life. Unfortunately we did not pack for the occasion. We came down with jeans and nice shirts and met our dates in dress pants and button ups. After seeing them and having them crack jokes about us not being in high heels, we went back upstairs for a costume change. We decided on the only other outfit we had; nice shirts with church skirts. Embarrassing. We ended up going to a dance café. There was a live band and we danced our hearts out.

This was a great day. We learned a lot of new things about the history of South Africa and their culture.

Bethany, Michelle, Katie