Historical background

 

• Historical background

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Hello dear reader, my name is Mandla. I am a South African black man who has faced things you have never imagined.  Since I was a child, I recognized the diversity in my country and because of that, in some cases, it was difficult to coexist. Later, our parents started working with farmlands and mining. They discovered that the lands were producing diamonds and gold, the most precious stones I have ever seen. But imagine if before there were fights, now, that they discover ways in which they can earn money and change their lifestyles, the division of our society was unstoppable. That was the beginning of hard times. I remember when the Europeans arrived, I thought they were going to contribute to our culture and wanted to learn from it, but the truth was that they wanted to colonize us, take control over our lands, our people, and interfere in political and social decisions as to the division according to the color of skin.  In 1948 started a time of injustice, abuses of control, segregation, violence, racism, and more. For me and my family, it was difficult to visit a beach, use public transportation, vote, or even to use a public bathroom, all this because of the new laws implemented by the National Afrikaner party which had common ideas related to the nazis.   We were rejected by everyone, even by important organizations that wanted to help us to evolve and overcome our differences. The economic relations of the country, the politics, and the socio-cultural aspects were affected until a pacific man who disagreed totally with what was happening appeared.  My hero Nelson Mandela who was with the National African Congress started to fight for South African citizens segregated through manifestations. He promoted a pacific movement to call the attention of those who had the power but most important to make society realize that the oppressed were more.  Those times were hard, but what is hard are the post-apartheid traces. I thought after Mandela’s incarceration everything was going to change, and it did but for waves of violence, racism, segregation, and intolerance.