In the US, people play the "six degrees of separation from Kevin Bacon" game.
In South Africa, it's not a game. And it's "one degree of separation from Nelson Mandela".
Every black person we've talked to for any length of time (more than a minute) here, tells their "relationship" to him somehow.
(I want to add as an aside how shockingly few black people we've spoken to for more than a minute (i.e. servers at restaurants), considering it's a country of 95% black and colored (mixed race) people. The only black people we've had "real" conversations with (at least a few minutes long) have been our Soweto tour guides, museum workers and our drivers (Uber or otherwise). The wealth disparity between the rich and the poor here is among the worst in the world. And, of course, the wealth gap is very closely tied to race here.
Back on topic: the reverence toward Mr. Mandela here is something we can't even imagine in the US. (Chris and I were trying to decide if we have anyone like this in our country. We wondered about "if MLK hadn't been killed....and then he became president...". But decided, no, it's not a fair comparison - for a variety of reasons: he didn't spend 27 years in jail and we have such a smaller percentage of black people in our country (he was a leader of the oppressed minority rather than the oppressed majority) etc.)
When these black people talk, every single one of them mentions some connection to Mandela, loose as it may be. Examples:
I'm from a small village outside of (city), which is also the largest city near to the village Mr. Mandela was from.
We speak Xhosa, the same language Mr. Mandela's tribe speaks.
My father is from (city), which is in the same state that Mr. Mandela was from.
These are all unprompted, in the sense that we are not talking about politics, history, or anything Mandela-related with them, just asking about their life.
The consistent and quiet, but incredibly strong, reverence toward Mr. Mandela is a powerful and beautiful and painful (27 years in prison; and so little time afterward to fix the mess; and such poor leaders who followed him) thing to experience here. It has been the most subtle (not sure the kids "notice" it) and yet most consistent thread connecting our experiences here.
In South Africa, it's not a game. And it's "one degree of separation from Nelson Mandela".
Every black person we've talked to for any length of time (more than a minute) here, tells their "relationship" to him somehow.
(I want to add as an aside how shockingly few black people we've spoken to for more than a minute (i.e. servers at restaurants), considering it's a country of 95% black and colored (mixed race) people. The only black people we've had "real" conversations with (at least a few minutes long) have been our Soweto tour guides, museum workers and our drivers (Uber or otherwise). The wealth disparity between the rich and the poor here is among the worst in the world. And, of course, the wealth gap is very closely tied to race here.
Back on topic: the reverence toward Mr. Mandela here is something we can't even imagine in the US. (Chris and I were trying to decide if we have anyone like this in our country. We wondered about "if MLK hadn't been killed....and then he became president...". But decided, no, it's not a fair comparison - for a variety of reasons: he didn't spend 27 years in jail and we have such a smaller percentage of black people in our country (he was a leader of the oppressed minority rather than the oppressed majority) etc.)
When these black people talk, every single one of them mentions some connection to Mandela, loose as it may be. Examples:
I'm from a small village outside of (city), which is also the largest city near to the village Mr. Mandela was from.
We speak Xhosa, the same language Mr. Mandela's tribe speaks.
My father is from (city), which is in the same state that Mr. Mandela was from.
These are all unprompted, in the sense that we are not talking about politics, history, or anything Mandela-related with them, just asking about their life.
The consistent and quiet, but incredibly strong, reverence toward Mr. Mandela is a powerful and beautiful and painful (27 years in prison; and so little time afterward to fix the mess; and such poor leaders who followed him) thing to experience here. It has been the most subtle (not sure the kids "notice" it) and yet most consistent thread connecting our experiences here.
Very interesting! I’m really enjoying reading about your trip.
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