I am a white South African brought up as a Rainbow child holding no prejudices or preconceived judgments, we ate and drank from the same cups, we used the same toilets, we hugged and laughed together, all races as one in our household. I never saw colour until I went to an Afrikaans school, never felt the prejudices of the forefathers until I was surrounded by the people who called others with a different colour “kaffirs”. I was always astounded by the fact that people were brought up with such hatred within them, their anger so intense that when you looked at them you could almost see it oozing out of their pores.

I have never understood why the Africans hated us whites so much, why they said that we deserve to get what is coming our way. I never understood until I started to find out what it was that our forefathers did to the nation, I started reading the horror stories, talking to my friends of colour, history made me feel shame. Shame for the fathers before me, for their narrow mindedness and ignorance.

Africa is close to my heart, if I could right the wrongs of the past I would not to relieve the guilt I feel for something I had no part in but more so the people on all sides of the fence can live with out the stigma. The anger I feel towards those that came before this generation is still strong, their ignorance has crippled our generation and the colour separation still lives on but in a different form. What people don’t seem to understand is that this generation, my generation, don’t care about colour we just want to get on with it, live as one, be who we are and be free.

What the people of this world need to know is that this discrimiation of people, no matter what colour, is still present in this world. In America there are still “White only” toilets, in England race descrimination is rife, in some areas of Australia the Aborigines are still not allowed into Bars… why is the descrimination only linked to South Africa, why is it not highlighted the world over, why is the ignorance still taking place?

I leave you with that question…

The peoples capacity for forgiveness is a lesson to us all, hopefully those that need to learn it will and those that have already don’t forget it!

… for all of you who still use the word “Kaffir” it means unbeliever in Arabic and was first used during the Slave Trade days… think about it…