Berkley Center

The moment I stepped off the plane at Cape Town International Airport and saw the vast gray sky and rain in a continent most Americans associate with desert heat, I knew that my preconceived notions would be shattered this semester. During orientation week, one presenter showed the opening clip of Disney’s The Lion King and explained that this is how non-Africans tend to view Africa: a vast savannah crawling with exotic animals and not a person in sight. Colonizing powers centuries ago generated the myth of the empty continent, yet this myth has made its way into our subconscious perceptions of Africa even today. In my South African history class, the lecturer explained that even the commonly used Robinson Projection map of the world is not to scale. Africa, in reality, is larger in relation to other continents than commonly understood.

The fact that I am even speaking about Africa as a whole demonstrates the erroneous way in which the rest of the world speaks about the diverse continent as if it were a homogenous region. One well-intentioned but misinformed friend of mine asked if, while in Africa, I would get the chance to visit Ghana. I had to explain to her that Ghana is almost 3,000 miles away, farther than the distance between New York and Mexico City.

When most Americans, or non-Africans in general, think of South Africa, apartheid is likely one of the first words that pops into their heads. Another immediate image most associate with this country is the image of Nelson Mandela’s release from prison after 27 years, fist held in the air, the signal of his political party, the African National Congress.

Sitting here on Stellenbosch campus sipping rooibos tea, surrounded by scenic mountains leading into vineyard-covered valleys, it is fairly easy to forget the violent and oppressive past of this country. Indeed, most of my peers were toddlers when the first democratic elections took place in 1994, ending 46 years of apartheid. However, I just have to look at the names of my classroom buildings, some named after orchestrators of the apartheid system, to remember the history of this place. Or, I could travel a few kilometers to the outskirts of town to Kayamandi, a historically black township representing the continuation of housing segregation, spilling over into the informal settlement of Enkanini, the product of insufficient housing and economic marginalization left over from decades before.

However, all too easily, we dismiss inequalities as an African problem, but as investigative journalist Sam Sole wrote in my favorite South Africa newspaper, Mail & Guardian, “this is a global problem, whose crisis we are reaching early because of our weak state and historical inequalities.” Perhaps it was the social issues South Africa faces that drew me here in the first place. As a new democracy, this country has the ability to learn from the mistakes and use the good examples of the past. For example, the 1994 South African Constitution is the only one in the world that explicitly protects equal rights for all sexual orientations. Coming from a developed country that has still not managed to achieve legal equality for LGBTQ citizens, I am very impressed by this achievement.

Beginning in 1995, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission addressed the abuses of the apartheid era in an example of restorative justice, ending a period of impunity and hate and starting one of national unity. The final piece of the puzzle that must be fulfilled is redistributive justice by correcting the legacies of socioeconomic disenfranchisement of the majority of the population. While in this country, I have met amazing people who are working to do just that. I, for one, am excited to see what the future has in store for this beautiful country and feel honored to be here to bear witness.