Labels and Segregation Still Exist

Whether or not the apartheid persists is a difficult question to answer. In many ways it does, but in many ways it does not. Because the apartheid movement and the history along with it is so recent, a lot of the people who experienced segregation, violence, and discrimination, as well as those who enforced it, are still living in the country. The fact that people, or families of people, who experienced this struggle are still here, makes it harder to say that the apartheid doesn’t continue today. 73 years ago, in 1950, the government start to classify people as “white”, “black”, or “colored”. There was a sign when we first entered the Apartheid Museum on Sunday that talked about “chameleons”, who were the people in 1985 that fought their classification and received a new one, or the one they thought they actually deserved. I was shocked at the numbers listed on that board: 702 colored became white, 249 blacks became colored, and many more. But more shockingly, at the bottom of the board it read, “No blacks became whites, and no whites became blacks”. The fact that the classifications were still being worked out less than 30 years ago is shocking to me. The classification portion of this society has a lot to do with whether or not the apartheid is still in existence. Even on our first day in Cape Town our tour guide mentioned the classifications of white, colored, black, and Malay. I was somewhat taken back that these classifications were still used on a regular basis and people in the country actually identify with one of the classifications. Classifications are a way of separating whites from blacks from coloreds from others, and there for creating segregation. The definition of apartheid is the system of segregation or discrimination on grounds of race in force in South Africa. The definition clearly states segregation as a main part of apartheid, therefore it continues in the classification of people today.

Yes, on February 2nd 1990 President De Klerk announced the unbanning of organizations such as the ANC, the PAC, and the African Communist Party. And on the same day lifted emergency regulations, apartheid regulations, capital punishment, and media restrictions. But, does that mean it all ended on that date? As we explore South Africa, it’s history and it s culture, I still notice a lot of segregation. The segregation seen today is in the school system, in the housing developments, and in the workplace.

In the school system there are private and public schools, schools in townships, and schools in cities. The private schools are where you often only find the whites and the upper class blacks. Casey at Ubuntu was talking about how when they put the boys from the football academy into the local private school, they were the diversity of the school. Ubuntu wanted to send the boys there because they felt that they could get a much better education and be challenged more. On the other hand, children of lower class families, mostly non-whites but not always, aren’t all given the opportunity to attend these schools simply because they can’t afford them. The public schools even have a fee to attend, although it is much lower than the private school fees. Is that to say that the private schools are mainly for wealthy and public schools are for the poor? The townships schools we drove by or visited were for the children of the township, who are mostly  black or colored. If the schools are segregated based on economic status, wealthy at private schools and poor at public schools, that often segregates by race too.

As far as housing goes, we have visited many townships now as well as driven through many different areas of the cities we have been visiting. The townships we have visited have been of overwhelming populations of colored or black. I, along with many of my classmates, felt like intruders and outsiders when entering townships such as Langa and Khayelitsha as well as Soweto. We were clearly tourists, clearly of better economic status with our purses, nice clothes, cameras, and giant coach bus, and clearly white. The townships showed us a much different lifestyle than what we are used to in the United States. From our hotel to the townships and other locations, we drove through a lot of wealthy neighborhoods where there were large houses, big gates, and barbed wire or electric fences on the outside. I asked our tour guide one day, who lived in those neighborhoods. He told me, mostly whites and very few upper class black or colored people. Segregation of neighborhoods and areas of the city definitely still exist, whether it is non-whites living in townships or whites living in wealthy neighborhoods, it is definitely still divided.

The other main part of life where segregation is seen is in the work place. Not only is this segregation racial but it is also gender based. We have talked mostly about race in this trip but also a bit about gender, especially when it comes to the violence that still persists. Racial separation in the workplace is seen definitely at the markets. I have not seen a single white seller at the market since we have been here. Most of the sellers are black or colored and coming from other countries trying to make money here in South Africa. I honestly haven’t seen many white workers, making the assumption that they work in the large buildings we see. As far as gender discrimination goes, when Nzwaki came and spoke to our class, she said the number one issue facing South Africa now is gender based violence. In the workplace, we have definitely seen a separation of genders. At the museums, most of our guides have been male. At the market, the female sellers report to the male sellers when negotiating prices. The people we have seen begging on the streets have been mostly males. In the townships the women are either at their homes with the children or making a job for themselves like Gloria and Vicky, who created their own businesses to support their families and communities. It is obvious that the men hold the power in the workplace and seem to have more job opportunities, but that is purely from what I have seen.  I don’t notice violence right away but I am sure it exists in one way or another. Violence was a large part of the apartheid era, whether it was on the streets, in detention centers, or in general life activities.  Nzwaki, the women who spoke to us about refugees and women, said that the main goal she and the Progressive Women’s Movement has is to mobilize women and help them to build cooperatives for themselves. When she mentioned gender based violence, she said it takes place not only at home but in the workplace. This society is very patriarchal and in the tribes, such as Lesedi, we talked about how women are seen on a different level as men. I think it is fair to say that aside from racial segregation, gender segregation and discrimination is still prominent in this country.

Overall, the apartheid laws are over and done with but the mindsets and societal norms are still around. The biggest area that apartheid values still exist is in segregation, whether it is in schools, communities, or work. Do you think eventually racial and gender segregation will be completely gone or do you think there will always be a mindset of it in this country? How does the segregation seen here in South Africa compare to the segregation we see at home in the United States?

Twitter post: Labels are for jars not people. Why are South Africans still classifying themselves as colored, black, or white? #separation #SA2013