As someone who doesn't really remember apartheid, but is interested in it in a historical context, I suppose I have a much less personal take on the matter.
When I look at the apartheid history, there are a few things that are clear: first, that the National Party believed black people to be intellectually inferior, second, that they believed them to be dangerous, and thirdly, that the NP themselves were ignorant, and responsible, as the catalyst at least, for a great deal of the ills of today.
However, what interests me more is the history of South Africa post 1994. After all, that's really the part of our history that I remember best.
When I look at that part of history with clear, unbiased eyes, it becomes clear that the ANC have taken the notions of the NP about black people - that they were stupid and dangerous, and put them on steroids, so to speak.
Instead of making the party a shining light in Africa, the ANC have devolved into appointing only the most ignorant and corrupt of officials to their upper echelons.
The ANC have taken the NP stereotype that kept the notion of apartheid alive for so long, and made it a reality, for the whole world to see.
Of course, those at the top are having a grand old time of things, without a care in the world, but what about those who aren't involved in the party, or indeed even ANC members?
The shenanigans of the party have only served to reinforce the lingering stereotypes regarding black South Africans with those who supported or remember apartheid, while fostering similar suspicions in those of us who are younger.
It's the same sort of thing that the NP did to the cultural and social perception of white people, and in particular Afrikaners. Everyone - even those who didn't support the apartheid regime, was and is tarred with the brush of racism and unfairness.
Today, every black South African - even those who don't support the ANC - are tarred with the brush of ineptitude and criminality.
It's not fair that those sorts of perceptions exist, but the fact is that they do.
As a white South African, who has to live with the daily stigma that is attached to that thanks to the former oppressive, racist regime that ruled this country, I can only feel pity for the black South Africans that are having the same weight slowly placed onto their shoulders.
By their actions, and their shenanigans, the ANC is only reinforcing the stereotypes that the NP began, and it's you - the ordinary black South African, and your children, who will one day suffer as a result of their excess.
You have my sympathies.
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