A world with COLOUR

I wonder would it be possible for us South Africans to be able to live without classifying everything racially? when one quarrels about why they do not receive service the race card pops up. When a person gets followed in a store and the attendant politely says ' Sorry, please don't touch that ' the next set of words you can expect to hear is ' Is it because I am ______ ' [I don't want to say it, but you can finish off the sentence for me]. There is also the instance i have personally witnessed.  A lady asks 'Why is it so expensive?, are you trying to charge me extra because I am_____' [Another one...] . Every time the racial card is thrown in unnecessarily I actually feel like leaving or even puking.

I won't be oblivious and say that racism does not exist. In some people it is live and vigilant, some even choose to express it openly. What these and most people are doing is only recreating misery and brewing hatred, which will ultimately lead to insensitivity, oblivion and foolishness. The energies that people spend on brewing  hatred and disgust for a group of people will result in wasted efforts and a derailed focus on the beauty and esscence of life.

 

I came across a video that documented two families. The one family, now living in poverty, was saying that the apartheid era was good for them and life was better then. The other family said that life is better for them at present. The first family were too focused on what the government has done and how they were dissatisfied with its system was not catering for them. Th second family said they were now well off because of some of the decisions they made and the opportunities they grasped with the change of governance. when I saw this video I thought to myself  '...again, why is it about black and white?' Couldn't the focus have been on the real issue 'opportunity lost and opportunity gained', 'rich and poor', 'transforming from the old to the new', or even 'how can the newly rich South Africans help those living in the past'.

Transformation is a process and if we allow it to take place pain and suffering will soon be extinguished. History has a tendency of repeating itself. it is done so by people who have not sought to find a new way of addressing a problem, but rather by reinventing the problem. In the end we are caught in a web and the generations that follow simply follow suit.

I want to live in a South Africa that rates me according to my efforts, and the work I have done. Where people base their opinions on my actions and not on misconceived perceptions of my culture.I want to live in a South African where there is no blame on me just because of the actions of a person who merely speaks the same language as I. This may seem as a far fetched fantasy, yet still I will strive for its reality.

Instead of  magnifying the difference in pigmentation, we should aim to better our already economically challenged society. Our energies should not be devoted to oppress another, rather they should be channeled to build our lives and make our families and this country a better place to live in. I challenge myself and I challenge you to begin living with the intent of creating a better bigger picture

Stay BLAq

TL4-the future