All change in South Africa?
 Sunita Patel, Wolverhampton, Born 1976 |
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" The millennium is a celebration of 2,000 years of Christianity, one of many religions that preach love, forgiveness and peace on earth to all. But 2,000 years down the track, mankind still hasn't got it right. What was it we used to sing at school about neighbours? The creed and the colour and the name won't matter. Then you come into the real world, Wolverhampton (about as multi-cultural as you are going to get) and realise that there are a lot of people who think the creed, colour and name do matter. "The escalation of racial hatred is what I will remember the 20th century for. Two world wars, the Holocaust, the assassination of Martin Luther King and Gandhi, and apartheid. The list goes on. We started the century at war in the Balkans and have finished it there as well. "I remember visiting relatives in Johannesburg, South Africa, following the end of apartheid. Well, at least that was where I thought they lived. The truth was that they lived in a segregated area called Lenasia. The place they lived in during apartheid and still do today. "Yes, that's right. No change. In fact, what I saw and heard on my travels was that not a lot had changed since the 1994 elections. Blacks and Asians told me of their battles for democracy and equality. What shocked me were their opinions on the present. Promises had been broken and they felt their physical and mental scars had all been for nothing. Some even wished for a return to apartheid. "The only change I saw was a reversal in racial dominance. A democratic South Africa, with still no racial harmony. Now, that sounds familiar." |
