5/13/2010

Lebo, during his talk with the class, mentioned that during the time of the rebellion, before the end of apartheid, life was dictated, to a certain extent, by “survival of the fittest” rules. You had to be strong and smart to be active in politics and survive. Lebo mentioned that in the field across from the hostel two people during this time period were burned. Life was chaotic and dangerous.

The original intention of the Europeans was to civilize, or Christianize, the South African people. Although this intention was replaced by the want to gain economical and political resources, if we keep the original objective of the want to civilize in mind it seems that by the point of the rebellion civilization had completely regressed. Mandela describes his childhood society, in his Long Walk to Freedom, as both socially and economically organized. Tradition held certain ways of doing things and this way was accepted and revered. With the invasion of the Europeans, the system was interrupted. In an attempt to create a “better” society, it became much worse by the time of Lebo’s father’s political involvement. The violence and inhuman acts suggest a return to a more barbaric society.

At the Apartheid Museum we saw image after image of completely inhuman violence. We read stories about people being treated like animals. A person’s race was not defined by their own feelings and thoughts but, rather, by a racist government. People’s movements and actives were monitored and restricted. These examples of the apartheid area do not suggest a colonized or Christianized society. The people had regressed to an uncivilized state to a level that was much worse than before the Europeans arrived in South Africa. The attempt to “civilize” and “help” the people resulted in the exact opposite of the said intention. Lebo’s father was a result of this turn; he was a victim of the intention gone south.

There are people today who are still going into other countries to help or civilize the people. With the South African history in mind, these undertakings must be either carefully monitored and handled sensitively or not exist at all. It was very easy in South Africa for the positively motivated actions to be bad for the people and turn south for everyone involved.

The experience of Lebo’s father and Lebo himself prove the destructive results that are possible when other people’s wants, needs, and values are not taken into account or considered inept. This type of thinking and the misunderstanding of other cultures along with the complete disregard for human rights is something that has recognized by everyone so history does not repeat itself. The world must step in and hold those who disregard human life responsible so that a situation like South Africa’s is not able to begin all over again somewhere else.