SEMESTER AT SEA - SOUTH AFRICA

 

Email #3 - March 2, 2002

           

            This is the third report about my experiences teaching in Semester at Sea, on a semester-long voyage around the world. I am emailing by satellite from the ship.  This report discusses globalization and racism issues in the CORE course, as well as my impressions of South Africa.

 

CORE COURSE

        Everyone on the ship participates in a CORE geography course in which we learn about the history, politics, economics, music, and other aspects of the culture of every country we visit.  In addition, global issues are discussed including globalization, racism, gender, and human rights. The professors take turns lecturing in the CORE course in addition to the three courses they each teach.  There also are inter-port lecturers who travel with us from the port before their home port in order to provide additional expertise.

       

GLOBALIZATION

            Two economics professors told us about the benefits of globalization, such as lowered tariffs and increased trade promoting economic development around the world.  Then we heard from our inter-port lecturer, Dennis Brutus, who was in prison with Nelson Mandela for initiating the expulsion of South Africa from the Olympics because only whites were allowed on their teams.

            Brutus pointed out that free-market policies imposed by the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Trade Organization can create widespread unemployment when local producers cannot compete with foreign goods.  Austerity measures to reduce inflation, required as a condition for obtaining loans, often cut funding for education, health, and other government services.  While the rich may benefit from economic development, the poor may be worse off.  He argued that globalization should be guided by concerns about people instead of corporate profits.

 

RACISM

            I spoke in the CORE course on the topic of racism.  I pointed out that genetic research indicates that the concept of race is meaningless biologically. All of the so-called "races" are mixtures; none are "pure" races.  There is more variation within races than between races. Differences such as skin color are superficial, and are not correlated with other differences such as blood type.  Skin color varies gradually from the equator (where dark skin is an advantage) to the north pole (where light skin is an advantage), while blood type varies east and west. We are all one race, the human race.  Studies of the mitochondria, which is part of the ovum from the mother, indicate that all humans descended from the same female.

            Racial categories are socially defined and have been used to justify domination and oppression.  Prejudice is also the result of fear.  People fear others who are "different" in relation to personal safety, competition for jobs, and way of life. 

 

APARTHEID

            One of the most extreme examples of racism was Apartheid in South Africa.  When the country gained its independence from Britain in 1948, laws were passed which enforced segregation of the four racial categories.  The categories, in order of privilege, were whites, Asians (from India and Malaysia), Coloreds (mixed race, primarily Black and White), and Black persons. Coloreds and Black persons were required to carry passes which only allowed them in certain White areas for employment (e.g., as domestic help).  At night they were required to return to their townships outside the city.

            After decades of internal strife and external economic blockades, the system of apartheid was finally dismantled and Black persons were allowed to vote in 1994.  Nelson Mandela, after 27 years in prison, was elected president in a government that sought to represent all South Africans, not just White persons and not just Black persons. In a subsequent election, Mandela stepped down and was replaced by Mbeki who is president now.

            While racial discrimination has been outlawed, its effects are still very apparent in South Africa, which now has the widest income gap in the world between the rich (mostly White) and the poor (mostly Black).

 

CONTRASTS IN CAPE TOWN

            When we approached Cape Town on Wednesday, February 20, I was impressed with the beauty of the city, which lies at the base of Table Mountain, a high plateau which dominates the landscape. Around the port is a very upscale mall area called Victoria and Albert Wharf.  There are restaurants along the shore with outdoor seating and beautiful views of the water and the city.  But if you only visited that area you would get a very distorted view of South Africa.

            I led a fieldtrip that day for my classes to see different Lifestyles of South Africans.  We took a bus to the University of Cape Town, a beautiful campus on a hillside overlooking downtown Cape Town.  There we met Black and White student leaders who are working together to build a better society.  The university previously was restricted to White students but now half of the students are non-White.  We also rode out to the suburbs where the Coloreds live in working class neighborhoods, and visited the University of West Cape.  It previously was restricted to Coloreds and Blacks, and still is 90% those categories.  There we went to a museum which had an archive of materials from the struggle against Apartheid.

            Next we went to one of the many townships surrounding the city, where the Coloreds and Blacks previously were forced to live and most still do.  Some of the townships, especially those for Coloreds, have houses made of cement blocks which are rented by the government. To be eligible you must document that you have a steady job. But most of the townships are comprised of shanties made of whatever pieces of wood and metal that can be found and pieced together.  The inhabitants are squatters who have moved there from the countryside or old plantations looking for work, but there is no work there. More than 90% are unemployed. 

            We visited Khayelitsha that day, which has 750,000 inhabitants.  That township has running water which is not in the shanties but in free-standing outbuildings containing a toilet inside and a faucet outside.   There also is electricity.  But it is a struggle to get water, sewage, and electricity provided to the townships.

            In spite of the extreme poverty, the people were very friendly and welcoming. We visited a woman who has a two-bedroom bed and breakfast to educate people about the townships.  We were surrounded by kids, but instead of giving things to the kids, we gave them to the woman who had the kids line up so each kid would get something. 

            After leaving the township we drove through an exclusive suburb, Constantia, which had estates similar to those in Beverly Hills. We drove along the sea coast and saw condominiums and houses reminiscent of Malibu.  When we returned to the ship and saw the wealth displayed by the Wharf, the contrast between the township and the wharf seemed obscene.

            That night I went with some students to the Bourbon Street dance club.  We saw others from the ship there too.  The music was great and I had a fun time, but I noticed that there was only one Black person among the several hundred people there.  Racial groups are still socially segregated to a large extent in South Africa.

 

KAGGA KAMMA GAME PRESERVE

            We were disappointed that our planned stop in Kenya had been cancelled due to safety concerns, which meant that we couldn't go to the Serengeti.  So my wife and I each signed up for an overnight trip to the Kagga Kamma Game Preserve.  She and I weren't able to get on the same trip, so she had gone the day before.  We each rode a bus one hundred and fifty miles northeast of Cape Town, through country reminiscent of central Washington. There were vineyards and orchards in the valleys of beautiful mountains.

            At the game preserve some of us stayed in 3-bedroom chalets while others stayed in fake caves or thatched roof huts.  After lunch and a relaxing swim in the pool, we walked a couple miles to the edge of a canyon reminiscent of the Grand Canyon but only 1/3 as deep.  Along the way we saw a zebra and a couple of springboks (small antelopes). After watching the sunset, we went back for dinner, and then had a night drive.  We climbed onto benches mounted on the back of pickup trucks, and drove around with a spotlight looking for animals.  When the spotlight shines in their eyes, two bright green lights reflect back.  We saw the zebra and the springboks again, as well as other kinds of antelopes and smaller animals.   Bouncing around on the benches was reminiscent of the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland!  Although we didn't see many animals it was fun.

            In the morning we walked to see some rock paintings left by the San people (called Bushmen by the Europeans).  We also saw a group of San people who had been brought there for the benefit of tourists.  They were in native garb next to huts made of branches, although they normally wear Western clothing and live elsewhere.  They had jewelry and painted rocks for sale, which many of us bought.  Some students were offended by zoo atmosphere of the situation as we took pictures of these people who were on display for us.  I realized that the whole private game preserve was artificial, with animals imported, but it was an enjoyable outing anyway since it enabled us to see the countryside.

            On the way back to Cape Town we stopped at a winery and saw an open air museum of farm buildings that was reminiscent of Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts. We also sampled some wines.  Back at the Wharf, my wife and I ate dinner at the Quay Four restaurant, where I realized that the $18 cost of the seafood platter, which my wife and I shared, was equivalent to the typical monthly wage of an employed Black South African.

 

OPERATION HUNGER

              On Saturday I went back to the townships on a fieldtrip led by people from Operation Hunger.  They monitor malnutrition and provide food programs.  When my wife went the day before, they visited schools where they weighed children and tracked their weight on growth curves. If the children are below the 3rd percentile, they are eligible for food programs.  The day I went we planted vegetable gardens at three different townships.

            At the first township the local women sang to us as we raked the ground, spread manure and seeds, and watered.  They had a joyous spirit in spite of their extreme poverty.  At the second township, however, the people seemed much more desperate. The shacks were even flimsier and we felt depressed.  The third township was more upbeat again, as I chatted with several of the locals. 

            We also went to a fourth township where some children did a Zulu dance for us at a school.  Unfortunately, children have to pay a fee to go to government schools.  Although the fee is only $7 a year, that is half a month's wage for employed Black persons, and most of their parents are not employed.  Finally we stopped at a Rastafarian township, where the inhabitants lived in small cement block houses, and bought some handcrafts from artists wearing dreadlocks.

            That night I went with some students to the Rhodes House dance club, in an old mansion where most people sat around drinking on sofas.  But in the back there was a room with techno music which I liked.  The students thought that many people there were pretentious, reminiscent of Hollywood, and they saw people using cocaine in the bathrooms. 

 

ROBBEN ISLAND

            On Sunday my wife and I went to Robben Island with Dennis Brutus who had been imprisoned there with Nelson Mandela.  The prison is on an island reminiscent of Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay.  Our tour guide was another former prisoner.  He told us that political prisoners had been kept separate from those there for other crimes, and that the four racial categories had been separated as well.  Those higher among the racial categories had been given better food in the prison.  But the prisoners shared food with each other, and the prisoners established an informal school in the prison, teaching other prisoners how to read.  While there, Nelson Mandela wrote books which were smuggled out, and made plans for a better government in which all racial categories would be represented.  Dennis showed us one of the cells where he had been imprisoned.

 

TOWNSHIP MUSIC

            On Sunday I went on a final tour of townships to hear more music.  First we went to a church, where we heard gospel singing.  Then the minister asked the people who were infected with HIV to come forward.  Twelve women stood at the front of the church. Two were carrying infants, and some had shaved heads.  We were emotionally devastated by this.  It illustrates how widespread AIDS is in South Africa, which has the highest rate of infection in the world.

            We went to another township where children danced for us at a school, then we went to a third township where there was a restaurant featuring African food.  After dinner a music teacher explained various African instruments, and led us pounding rhythms on drums. Then a group of his students danced for us.

            Finally we went to a tavern in a fourth township where a jazz band played outdoors.  They played African, American, and Latin songs.  While African music has strongly influenced the U.S. and Latin America, the latter have influenced African music in return.  Again it showed tremendous humanity and spirit in the midst of poverty.

 

TABLE MOUNTAIN

            On our final day in South Africa, my wife and I took a cable car up to the top of Table Mountain, for stunning views of the city.  While walking around the perimeter, we saw two of our students climb over the edge to rappel down 3000 feet!   We learned later that other students had hiked up the mountain at night in order to see the sun rise.

            We took a taxi to the South African Museum where we saw displays about the Bushmen and other African tribes.  The displays are controversial because they imply that the people still live that way when in fact they don't.  There also were displays of stuffed animals, and some Black Africans felt that they were being displayed the same way as the animals, so one of the dioramas was closed.  South Africa is still in process of transition from Apartheid attitudes.

            We walked along Long Street in the center of downtown, which has many restaurants and some craft shops.  My wife found some fabric that she wanted, which took the rest of our South African money.  We didn't have enough left for the taxi fare, and didn't want to take money out of an ATM machine more than we needed, so we walked two miles back to the ship.  That night a township choir sang on the ship before we left port.

 

 SLEEP AND HOMEWORK

            Everyone was exhausted when we left port, so we've spent the past several days catching up on sleep and homework.  I had to prepare study questions and midterms for all three of my courses.  In an evening session we saw slides taken by those who had gone on a several-day trip to Kruger National Park, where they had seen big game.  We also saw films of students bunging jumping off the third highest bridge in the world, and heard about some going skydiving.  In CORE, I gave a presentation on Gender Identity.  We've also been learning about Mauritius, which is our next stop.