{"id":13572,"date":"2017-06-22T09:20:03","date_gmt":"2017-06-22T16:20:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=13572"},"modified":"2017-06-22T09:20:03","modified_gmt":"2017-06-22T16:20:03","slug":"chained-to-your-past-or-not","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/chained-to-your-past-or-not\/","title":{"rendered":"Chained To Your Past? Or Not…"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\u201cOne of the apartheid\u2019s chief aims was the elimination of competition between black and white, invariably to the benefit of whites.\u201d[1]<\/a> Therefore the government designated land for both groups but the whites reaped the benefits because they received the lands with natural wealth. The blacks had to settle for the poorer lands, which was also in small proportions. We should also note that during the economic depression, the government spent 644 rands annually for white children\u2019s education but 42 for a black child. In this week\u2019s reading for our doctoral program at Portland Seminary, we were tasked with reading an inspiration book called Kaffir Boy<\/em>.<\/p>\n

<\/a>In this book, Mark Mathabane tells his autobiography of life in apartheid South Africa. The reader journeys with the author from childhood through high school, which is a very graphic story of poverty and white racism. \u201cMore than 90 percent of white South Africans go through a lifetime without seeing firsthand the inhuman conditions under which blacks have to survive.\u201d[2]<\/a> However, Mathabane was a youth during the time of the apartheid and gives his story as an eyewitness of the challenges growing up in that era. While this book is inspirational, it was not accepted in high schools until after the revisions to remove controversial sections. There were different types of controversies but the most surprising one was found in sports among his own race. After taking an interest in tennis, Stan Smith pays for Mark to participate in the South African Breweries\u2019 Open but the problem is that black tennis players boycotted the event. Mark\u2019s action seemed like a disrespect to the black tennis association so he received a lifetime ban.<\/p>\n

Mark grew up in Alexandra, which was always being raided by police who sought bribes for those who did not have a pass. The people experienced great brutality by the police such as kicking or sending the men to Modderbee, which was a maximum-security prison where they\u2019d eventually become violent men. The South African government also demolished shacks and forced the blacks without a proper pass to leave Johannesburg. Life in Alexandra was predictable and chapter 4 gives us a highlight of this predictability. I will highlight these days starting on Tuesday because it made sense this way.<\/p>\n