These past couple of years that I've lived in Cape Town has made me notice
that there is a HUGE difference between the white people in South
Africa and the people of colour. This is my experience. This is not my design.
Beautiful city, picturesque views and gorgeous women in a city with rich and interesting history. The move to Cape Town was a very exciting one and to be in a
place that has so much to offer was amazing. Cape Town is rated as the best city to visit in South Africa and it’s probably the best
city to live in. I was overwhelmed by Cape Town and I was
hooked, I fell in love and I wanted to stay... that was up until the pink stiletto dropped.
On my stay I learnt a few things about Cape Town, I
learnt that race is a big deal in this beautiful city that once wanted to
exclude itself from the rest of South Africa; I learnt that Cape Town is
probably the most racially divided city in South Africa. 'That is such a harsh thing to
say,' you catch yourself saying. All I ask for is for you to hear me out. This is my experience. This is not my design.
When I was with my girlfriend (a white girl) we went out clubbing, and on two different occasions I almost got into unnecessary fights with white guys. The
first night I was at a club dancing with my girlfriend and this random guy comes
up to me and screams in my ear over the music "This is not America!" I ignored him and
continued dancing with my girl. He taps my shoulder and screams in my ear again "This is not America!"
Eventually I respond and say “you’re just
mad because she's dancing with me and you dancing with your boys.” He
responds by forcefully by pulling my girlfriend away from me and pushing me to the
side. Naturally I got mad and let's just say we exchanged words and actions. This happened again when we went to the same club at a different night. Two white guys walking around like they owned the place
intercept me from my girl and start talking to her as if I’m just an enigma
that one can easily walk through. The lack of respect these 'boys' have exhibited is disgusting. What makes it worse is that I'm expected to brush it off and turn the other cheek because we live in a fucking rainbow nation.
But alas, I'm not the only one who has gone through this unforgiving experience. My black friends who
have been in a relationship with girls, tell me their stories, they tell me what it’s like to date
a white girl. Their stories and my story has too many similarities. They get pushed to the side
by some random white boy and start talking to their girls as if they are not
even there, then the girl has to interject and tell these disrespectful fellas that she is with her boyfriend. We don’t fight these boys because one against a team is never fair
and unfortunately that’s what they do when they go out, they get drunk, get into
fights with a team of barbaric men behind them and search for a potential mates.
What I learnt from these experiences is that young white
people don’t really see young black people as equal, and considering our history
many young people of colour are saying to each other: ‘One day there will be a
day of reckoning!’
Yes I’m black, I’m a human being, I’m young and you treat me like a subhuman in the land of my ancestors? FUCK THAT! but for them their actions say 'FUCK EQUALITY!'
I write from my experiences because my world is shaped by these
experiences. I'm not a fighter I'm a lover, but just like your hero Nelson Mandel, I will take up arms and fight for what's right. question is will you?
These are my experiences. This is not my design.
