Drawing parallels
By Kara
[M]y most significant takeaway, which I wasn’t really expecting, is a drive to do something about this issue I care deeply about. I have spent recent years reading countless fiction and nonfiction writing about all things race in America. But especially now, I know I need to DO more. Put my knowledge into action.
When talking to friends and family about the trip, what I wanted to say was how much fun I had, how much I learned from the companies I visited, and how much I was inspired to bring this knowledge into my own career. However, I kept feeling like I’d be doing an injustice if I skipped over talk of the impact that the country’s racial divide had on my perception of South Africa. It’s something I have been grappling with since I’ve returned. How does a country truly move on from a history so defined by its racial tensions? Maybe what I am struggling with most is that, as difficult as it was to see the lack of progress in South Africa, I couldn’t stop thinking about how much it reminded me of what still must be done to address the massive disparities in the U.S. today.
A lot of my peers wrote about the impact of the words we heard all week long: “freedom to choose.” I understood this phrase to be an attempt at justifying how an overwhelming majority of black South Africans remain living in the overcrowded and under resourced townships. It was such an evident falsehood, and I can’t help but draw further comparisons to systematic racism in the U.S. Here, 45.8 percent of young black children (under age 6) live in poverty, compared to 14.5 percent of white children (The State of Working America). I can imagine that many white Americans could claim that this is the black parents’ sort of “freedom of choice”. The truth, of course, is that our system was created to, and continues to, work against black people. People of color face structural barriers in all different aspects of life: housing, healthcare, employment, and education (The Urban Institute). They are unfairly targeted by police, makeup over 60 percent of people in prison, and face longer sentences and harsher punishments than their white counterparts (Center for American Progress). It’s not surprising, seeing how American policing literally began with the development of slave patrols, which helped wealthy (white) landowners find and punish black people (whom white people considered to be their property) (Police Studies Online). Given today’s notably high rates of arrests, assaults, and killings of black people by officers in the U.S., we see how history dating back well over 100 years ago still resonates today. Therefore, I find the claim that the housing situation in South Africa is a reflection of “freedom of choice”, and not a direct result of the horrific system of apartheid, to be shockingly ignorant and counterproductive to progress.
Instead of making these claims to make white South Africans feel better, it is time to take real action. My hope for South Africa is that its leaders will allow for discussion to address these systematic disparities, so this enormous divide can diminish. Nelson Mandela was impactful in leading the way with this kind of work, and in order to uphold his vision, there must continue to be representation of black leaders, and real support for all black South Africans.
From this journey, it is true that I have learned a lot about what kind of work I want to do with my career, and how many different ways business can make a sustainable impact. However, my most significant takeaway, which I wasn’t really expecting, is a drive to do something about this issue I care deeply about. I have spent recent years reading countless fiction and nonfiction writing about all things race in America. But especially now, I know I need to DO more. Put my knowledge into action. I hope to continue to learn from others and get involved in as many ways as I possibly can.