It is always that ‘top layer’ of a human-being that people cannot seem to look past: Racial Discrimination

The bitter, undeserved and needless cruelty– something more bluntly labeled as racism– was recounted faultlessly by 2 of the most interesting teachers I had in my schooling career so far.

This will be my first installment to my 3-part blog exploration of our indifference in accepting differences.

In year 7 (the equivalent of 7th grade in the US) students in New Zealand move up the ladders of school education into the slightly upper echelon of what is called an ‘intermediate.’   It is a two year long tier of education before you head off to Secondary School–high school in more familiar terms. Those two important years of my school life happened in a private institution in Central Auckland called King’s School. This school is located right in the a suburb called Remuera, one of the most expensive neighborhoods in the largest city of New Zealand.

That is where the first bit of my 3-part blog entry begins, within the depths of my intermediate classrooms.

First of all, let me introduce you to one of my year 7 teachers, called Roger Fraser. A South African, he immigrated to New Zealand after completing his tertiary education in Johannesburg and has held the position of Housemaster of Averill House by the time I arrived in his class as a student. He was a well-built man that enjoyed his cricket, rugby and applied mathematics. His strong South African accent was my first and I had a tough time adjusting into his classroom, but other than that he seemed to be the same old caucasian teacher at any regular institution.

And I was completely right. He was just a regular bloke from South Africa. That was until he started telling us stories, stories about Apartheid.

He helped me open my eyes to what was reality, to what was arguably the most shocking remnants of human history.

Even with a limited knowledge in world history, most of us have heard about the Apartheid policies. These policies were legislations passed by the South African government that was active over a period of around four decades, since the late 40s to the 90s. The word ‘Apartheid’ derived from a word in Afrikaans meaning, ’separation’. In a nutshell, the South African government tried and succeeded in separating the nation of South Africa into ethnic groups labeled according to skin colour.

The Whites, the Blacks, and the Coloureds.

To achieve the vision of a more stable, a ‘better’ South Africa; the leaders at the time, solemnly believed division was a necessary step in reinforcing the nation’s society as a whole. The passion to build a better nation ever so slowly perverted into what was a monster that would take root into the very soul of South Africa and to this day, the world cannot completely rid of those damned roots.

Here is an incomplete list of legislations that I found the most shocking; all of the following were passed and put into effect by the South African government, in the respective years.

• An amendment to The Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act of 1949 prohibited marital union between persons of different races.
• An amendment to The Immorality Act of 1950 made sexual relations with a person of a different race a criminal offence.
• The Population Registration Act of 1950 introduced an identity card for all persons over the age of sixteen, stipulating their racial group on the card.
• The Unlawful Organisations Act of 1960 outlawed certain organisation that were deemed threatening to the government.
• The Sabotage Act was passed 1962, the General Law Amendment Act in 1966, the Terrorism Act in 1967 and the Internal Security Act in 1976.
• The Group Areas Act, passed on 27 April 1950, partitioned the country into different areas, with different areas allocated to different racial groups. This law was the basis upon which political and social separation was constructed.
• The Bantu Authorities Act of 1951 created separate government structures for blacks. It was the first piece of legislation established to support the government’s plan of separate development in the Bantustans.
• The Reservation of Separate Amenities Act of 1953 prohibited people of different races from using the same public amenities, such as restaurants, public swimming pools, and restrooms.
• The Bantu Education Act of 1953 crafted a separate didactic scheme for African students under the aegis of the Department of “Bantu” Education.
• The Bantu Urban Areas Act of 1954 curtailed black migration to cities.
• The Mines and Work Act of 1956 formalised racial discrimination in employment.

The hardships that were felt by millions, produced men of exceptional leadership however. Some would say they are the heroes that should be, and will be, remembered in the years to come–Nelson Mandela for example. He was an anti-apartheid activist that eventually ’succeeded’ in steering the nation of South Africa away from the hideous memories of the apartheid era as the first black President of the nation. The world recognized his triumph over injustice and repression with the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize with F.W. de Klerk, Mandela’s right hand man in the dismantling of Apartheid policies in South Africa.

Before leading India in the Indian independence movement, Mahatma Gandhi was already on the forefront of the struggle in regaining the civil rights for the Indian community in a completely different nation. The Indian people were an ethnic minority in South Africa, classified as coloured people. Yes, Gandhi was already out to reclaim civil rights in South Africa way before doing so in his home country.

For a ‘rich’, Asian kid like myself, I lived just like what a rich, Asian kid would live like. Being exposed to only a certain type of society, growing up in only certain type of neighbourhoods, I had the most incomplete and flawed view upon this world. More the reason why I found Fraser’s narration of apartheid, epiphanic. And at one point, I didn’t want to accept the past I never got to see or feel. Yet it was all in all, the reality.

Baada ya dhiki, faraja is a Swahilian proverb, Mr Fraser shared with me once in class. It means No matter how hard it may get, a way out or eventual comfort will be provided. Amen to that.

Be in tuned for my next installment and even the tiniest of thoughts are welcome, just hit the comment button at the bottom of the page.

photo credit: apartheid museum by killthebird