Meredith's Blog

In today’s BBC article about the new South African film about Nelson Mandela, Milon Nkosi highlights the disparities of race even in today’s society. The film, which is a life narrative of Mendela’s life, struck well with most who left the theatre after it finished, which is the method with which Nkosi collected his qualitative data. Interestingly, he highlights that despite the consensus being that the film was accurate and positive, there were clear differences in the comments of the Caucasians who watched the film and the Africans who did.

The Africans who watched the film found it to be very uplifting and symbolic of the freedom Mandela fought so hard to achieve. These young black girls who were surveyed are in fact free, because they were raised after the apartheid ended and so did not face the strife related to it directly. In contrast, those who were surveyed who were Caucasian and slightly older were less effusive, but felt that it was an accurate film for indicating that there is still a long road to travel for the liberation struggle. It can be extrapolated then that those who faced the apartheid saw it as accurate while those who did not simply felt it was a good film about freedom which they have and deserve. It does seem that the girls do not have a good understanding of the gravity of the situation, however.

Race is also brought up in our reading ‘What is the What’, by Dave Eggers. In this autobiographical novel, Eggers writes about the continual subjugation that the protagonist, Achak Valentino Deng, faces. In Africa, Deng is not marginalized due to the colour of his skin, and in fact the opposite occurs, with humanitarian aid workers providing assistance and goods due, in part, to the colour of his skin. When he reaches America, however, racism seriously affects him and there are problems with him getting basic medical care, a good education and also a well paying job. While neither South Sudan nor the United States of America went through apartheid, there is a clear message which links the two. Both show that one must go through an experience which affects your identity in order to be affected by it and have it encapsulate your day to day life. In this case this means racism, but in others this is their gender, ethnicity or age. Removing stereotypes from this is essential to living in a more peaceful life with less subjugation which here is seen to occur globally.