Apartheid is a series of laws used to segregate the various ethnic groups of South Africa based on race. For instance, the African, Indian, and European population were not allowed to intermarry under Apartheid law"Interracial marriage act". In Nadine Gordimer book "Six feet of the Country" she gives some very straightforward descriptions of the effects while living under an oppressive system. Gordimer points out that a system such as Apartheid not only affects the oppressed it also affects the oppressor in ways that are unpredictable,harsh, and long lasting "the guns under the white men's pillows and the burglar bars on the white men's windows. They mean those strange moments on the city pavements when a black man won't stand aside for a white man" (Gordimer 506).
History reminds us that systems of oppression do not work because people have a innate yearning for freedom that constantly burns. Apartheid as in other systems of oppression will rob a nation of its most precious resource's which is the mind, spirit and body of its children. It will then began to feed upon itself by destroying the very people it was supposed to help most" the ruling class" by robbing them of their humanity. Our humanity gives us the ability to care,nurture, and raise our children in a healthy environment in the most difficult circumstances however, losing our humanity as history proves is a "losing proposition."
Your second paragraph is a great analysis of why Gordimer's writing is so powerful. She takes these abstract issues and makes them intensely personal.
ReplyDeleteIn your next posting, see if you can add a discussion of how you find your own personal experience influencing how you read these stories.