By Miranda Joebgen and
Eli Miller
After
saying a difficult goodbye to our home in Windhoek, we departed for Cape Town,
South Africa on Saturday, April 25th. The next day we attended service at Way of
Life Church and had the opportunity to speak with Pastor Xola Skosana
afterwards. We knew going into the
service that Pastor Skosana was no ordinary pastor – he has a history of making
radical statements, including once stating (in a 2010 sermon) that Jesus had
HIV. Naturally, we were intrigued to
discover what he would be talking to us about that day. In his sermon, Pastor Skosana began by
addressing Xenophobia – which is currently a large issue in South Africa.
Xenophobia is the fear or dislike of people from other countries.
Unfortunately, this has been the cause of much violence in South Africa,
particularly against people from other African countries. Pastor Skosana talked about how people
should not be strangers in their own land.
Though people may come from Zimbabwe or Botswana or Namibia, they are
all children of Africa – country lines are simply arbitrary. Eventually, Pastor Skosana transitioned into
addressing what he believes to be the main source of South Africa’s problem:
white power. White power, he believes,
has existed ever since Africa was first colonized and the country lines were
established. White power created apartheid, which in turn created the poverty
and inequality that have remained a part of this country. White power is what
causes black people to turn on black people in an effort to become more like
“the white man” and gain power and wealth.
Now,
as a white person, it would be easy for me to hear someone say this and
immediately become defensive, declaring that “not ALL white people are like
that,” thereby defending myself.
However, this semester has taught me a lot about racism, specifically in
South Africa and Namibia, and I have learned more about the immense pain that
white people caused black people during apartheid. While apartheid is over, the pain and
inequality caused by the system still exist today, and it is the reason why so
many black people still live in extreme poverty. White people who are not too consumed with
denying their role in any oppression often find themselves left with “white
guilt”, yet don’t know how to address these systems of oppression, so they
instead simply remain quiet. However,
something that we have learned in more than one of our courses this semester is
that in issues of oppression, those who choose to remain silent have chosen the
side of the oppressor. In other words,
if you’re not a part of the solution, you’re a part of the problem.
Pastor
Skosana then proceeded to tell us of something which he thinks could help solve
issues that have been created by white power such as inequality and poverty: a
wealth tax. The money taxed from the wealthy would be used to aid those who are
in need, thereby bridging the massive amounts of inequality that exist in this
country still. This is a controversial topic in South Africa right now.
The
theme of white privilege and white power continued throughout the week in Cape
Town. On Monday we took a walking tour of Cape Town with Lucy Campbell; a
staunch human rights activist who advocates human rights through cultural
tourism. It is easy to view Cape Town as a beautiful shining city - which it is
- but crime, poverty, and the roots of slavery and apartheid are still very
present in modern day Cape Town. It is very important when you come to Cape
Town to see the reality of the City. The
large amounts of homeless people in the downtown area alone signal that not
everything is perfect. Lucy took us to
the Cape Town slave lodge museum, which was a place to house slaves for the
Dutch East India Company. Lucy also showed us some of the monuments around Cape
Town that represent slavery and the apartheid era. While the recent removal of
the Rhodes monument gained a lot of national coverage, there are still many
monuments around Cape Town that represent slavery and apartheid that many
people feel should also be taken down.
 |
| The CGE group with Lucy and Collin, our wonderful tour guides |
On
Thursday we took a ferry to Robben Island to see one of the most famous prisons
in the world. All of the tour guides of the prison at Robben Island were former
political prisoners during the apartheid era and make incredible tour guides.
Many of the tour guides at Robben Island underwent immense physical,
psychological and emotional turmoil. Many were tortured and still wear the
scars they received on the island to this day. After apartheid ended many of
the guards at Robben Island and others who assaulted and killed black South
Africans were given blanket immunity. They went on with their lives like
nothing happened. Many point to the lack of reconciliation and reparations
after apartheid as the source of South Africa’s present problems.
 |
| The cell where Nelson Mandela lived when he was in prison on Robben Island. |
Economic
inequality, poverty, unemployment, HIV/AIDS are still huge issues in South
Africa and we think it’s fair to say equality for all has not been reached. Black
South African’s still face discrimination and marginalization today and we
believe institutional racism that was not changed after apartheid is at the
root of that cause. As we have learned more about the current political and social
landscape in South Africa, we can’t help but find similarities to America’s
current issues with police brutality. Institutional racism is at a boiling
point in America and these cases have revealed the depths of how much racism is
embedded in our society. We think it will be interesting to see how we view and
understand these issues of police brutality after our experiences in Namibia,
especially since this is an issue that gained a lot of attention before we left
for Namibia and it is still continuing now that we are returning after four
months. America is not without its own history of oppression that has yet to be
completely dismantled. Now that we are returning to America, we are left
wondering, “How am I going to become a part of the solution, rather than
silently standing by and condoning the acts of the oppressor?”
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| The sun sets on our time in Southern Africa…for now at least. |
This blog is the work of our students. To learn more about Center for Global Education programming, visit us at www.augsburg.edu/global
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