Sticks and stones may break my bones...

Today I defused a stoning in the township. 

We were here to make a short film designed to make a positive statement – to combat racism, to unite.  And this man was seething hatred when he didn’t even know what we were about.  He didn’t stop to talk to us, he just saw the color of our skin.  He assumed because we were white that we had commandeered the use of the field.  He presumed to know what we were thinking: that we could order all the blacks around and take over the field because we were white and therefore superior.  He was so angry, he would not even talk to me.  Instead he stooped to scoop up some rocks and took aim at the children.  They scattered in fear.  I have never met someone that wouldn’t talk to me, that didn’t calm down when I said, “what is the problem, can you tell me why you are so angry?”  There was hatred in his eyes and nothing could change his mind. 

Shooting in Soshanguve, PLAY campers got parts in the film

This was a piece of dirt he was fighting over.  Not a soccer field with grass and lines.  Just a big open dirt space on a corner surrounded by tin shacks.  The kids had dragged large stones out into the middle to mark goal posts for a soccer game.  But because three white people aimed cameras at the kids, there must be something suspicious about the situation.  Maybe it’s because it was the day after the presidential election - always a racially charged event in South Africa.  Always black and white.  Who the person is and what they stand for doesn’t matter.  First and foremost, what color are they?  If they are not the same color as me, they cannot be trusted.

It was actually incorrect to say three white people, because one of us was coloured.  He is not black, not white – but a mix of races which South Africa has officially designated to be a race category of its own.  And once I speak, it is clear that I am not Afrikaaner but an outsider, so sometimes this can cool down a situation.  But not today.  There is a history here.  And even though Apartheid ended 20 years ago, if you are over 30, it is like it is still yesterday.  You still know, still remember, still feel.  And the conditions in the township are a constant reminder…

There is this new generation who is trying to do good, to heal the scars, to bridge the divide, but they are not trusted because of the sins of their fathers, or grandfathers.  The children, they don’t know the outrages of the past, and there is a chance they could form a new future, but they are taught to hate and I don’t understand why.  What does the older generation accomplish by teaching the new to hate or mistrust for something a past generation did?  I am not advocating that we deny the past happened.  Teach it, but don’t hold the next generation responsible for the past or assume that all future generations feel the same based on color of skin.  People are people, the good and the bad, and we are not destined to be the same as our fathers and grandfathers.  But we will be, if the chain is not broken.

The quote that inspired PLAY

This is another reason I have started PLAY camp, to teach love and not hate.  To show the children that perhaps there is another way, that maybe the parent that says don’t trust white people because they all hate us is wrong, or the parent that says all black people are ignorant or criminals and incapable of leading is wrong.  PLAY has had some success in this area, but there is still a long way to go, especially when I have to hide the fact that this is one of PLAY’s objectives to my South African audience.  

 We are not to talk about racism, the R word is taboo.  We don’t “combat racism”, we “promote reconciliation”.  But even that has come to be a dirty word.  Racism as a topic is avoided – with the apparent notion that eventually it will just go away all on its own.  From what I have seen – it won’t.  My neighbor children, ages 6-9, are tragically racist – voicing opinions taught by their parents.  If nobody challenges these positions, they will grow up believing it and pass it on to their children and so on and so on.

The PLAY camp that was just held a few weeks ago shows me there is hope for the future of this country – that the chain of hate and mistrust CAN be broken.  

 

 Stay tuned for the next blog to get a glimpse of the challenges faced at PLAY camp….