Maeve making important connections

While this is our temporary home, it is imperative that we draw connections between our permanent home and this new place. It seems like a world apart and yet our two countries are similar in so many ways. The similarities bring a sense of connectedness between all the nations of the world and help us to realize that we are all human beings and all deserve to have a decent life. Starting from early on in the country’s history, the first major similarity is the slave trade. Despite being an ocean apart, the Dutch who settled in the Western Cape had the same idea as the English who landed on the East Coast of the United States and thus the slave trade was born. The natives couldn’t be enslaved because they were necessary for trade and learning the land so the Dutch imported people from other parts of Africa as well as Indians, Asians and people from Indonesia. 

 

The variety in races made it difficult to determine who was a slave so slaves were denied shoes and had to wear a pointy hat to identify their status. This was a major difference from the transatlantic slave trade because the color of someone’s skin distinguished them as a slave in the United States due to the area from which the slaves were imported.

Daniella, Maeve, and Alyssa listen as Lucy Campbell of Transcending History Tours unpacks her toolbox

Lucy Campell’s toolbox showed a more intimate view of how the slave trade affected the people and again there were cultural universals, some of which persist today. Alcohol was introduced to Angolan children when they were brought as slaves to the Western Cape. The children became addicted and alcohol was used as a form of control over them so that they would continue working to receive their next dose of alcohol. After slavery ended, this led to a high incidence of alcoholism which persists to this day because it has been passed down from generation to generation. Alcoholism is a problem worldwide which needs to be addressed on a global scale. Japan has a high amount of alcoholism due to sake which some adults put in their coffee or tea. In South Africa, people descended from alcoholics continue on the family tradition lining up for their morning wine before work. The United States has hundreds of rehabilitation centers for alcoholics as well as support groups. This part of the toolbox hit home because I have seen people close to me struggle with alcoholism and I’ve seen the effects it can have on a family. This is a universal problem that cannot be isolated to one place or one country; we can all work on changing no matter where we are.

Moving on from the Slave Lodge tour with Lucy Campbell, the next big connections can be drawn from the time of the apartheid in South Africa. During this time citizens living in District Six who were classified colored or African were forcibly removed from their homes and relocated to the Cape Flats. 

Joe Schaffers at District 6 Museum describes his personal experiences
of growing up in this vibrant and diverse community that was destroyed
under the Group Areas Act which declared District 6 a whites only area.

District Six previously contained people of all races and ethnicities living harmoniously and then the area was designated white which meant the community had to uproot, disperse and find new homes. What was once a picturesque labyrinth of neighborhoods became deserted grasslands on the side of Table Mountain when the land was cleared under the apartheid government. The only remaining structures were the places of worship which were numerous due to the diverse population that had lived there. This process is similar to the Trail of Tears for the Nez Perce Indians who were forced to walk from their lands in Georgia to a reservation in Oklahoma as well as other Native American groups who were forced off of their land for development by white people. This knowledge is important so that future generations don’t repeat the mistakes of the past. If we know the damage a past action has caused, we can work to repair that damage and ensure that no one is harmed the same way ever again.