My time in South Africa has really opened up my eyes in a new way to the world around me. With my return to the states, I have noticed things that I would not have before taking this class.
Just like in South Africa, United State citizens are also in the middle of a reconciliation process. This process is similar to that in South Africa, yet very different. In the states, minorities faced a lot of discrimination, but not as much as in South Africa. The Apartheid period was extremely more violent then the Civil Rights Movement as many more people lost their lives in South Africa. I think this fact has made the reconciliation process more attainable in the United States. However, like Americans, South Africans have came an extremely long way in a very short time period.
All the sights and things we learned in South Africa have made me more interested in the equality movement in the United States. I always knew that the work Martin Luther King jr. and other American freedom fighters did was very important, but I did not know how vital it was into shaping the country we live in today. My South Africa trip made me appreciate our own history much more than in the past.
However, the horrible pictures we saw at places like the Apartheid Museum opened my eyes in a new way. Are the things I learned in school really exactly what happened? I would imagine there is much more to the Civil Rights Movement then what we were taught. I am sure some horrible things happened that are not talked about today.
Since I returned to the states, I have seen things that have made me think differently then I would have before. I live in a very diverse suburb or Chicago called Evanston. My town is mostly all white and black. It is great to live in an area like this, but it is also very segregated at the same time. There are train tracks dividing the wealthier area, which is closer to the lake and mainly white, and the lower class area, which is mostly black. This is very similar to many areas we saw in South Africa, where highways or big fields divide races and social classes.
Fortunately, there is absolutely no hostility among the races in my town, and it seems to be similar to that in South Africa today. It is great to be able to live in an area with different races that can relate to each other and live peacefully. I find it amazing how far we have come, and this is something I never would have thought about before visiting South Africa.
