Reflections on Johannesburg:
While in Johannesburg I really feel as though my
knowledge about the history of South Africa came full circle. Going to Soweto
and Sharpeville and the museums and exhibits while there really brought
together what we have been learning in class about all of the uprisings and
massacres that took place during apartheid. It was shocking looking at the
photographs especially in the museum at Soweto looking at the young students
who were killed while peacefully protesting. This protest was in response to
the Afrikaans Medium Decree of 1974 where Afrikaans was made the language in
which the schools would teach. This was only a natural response for students to
be infuriated with the fact that the government was making learning almost
impossible for them as it is and now making a language not native to the
students the medium of teaching.
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| Abu, the young man who shared the story of his grandfather's death the Sharpeville Massacre |
Also speaking to the young man who helped tour us
around Sharpeville and learning that his grandfather was one of the men that
was killed in the massacre. When we visited the graves and I saw the grave of a
twelve-year-old child lying in the dirt I was horrified with how someone could
shoot this poor kid that most likely was just in the wrong place at the wrong
time. The woman who was touring us broke down at the cemetery being that most
of her family including her children were buried in that very cemetery all due
to apartheid violence. My heart went out to her and seeing this really makes
you realize what it was like to live in that time. I was with Sister Castle
today and she was explaining that they were never allowed to go to the nice
beaches like Camps Bay and Clifton during apartheid. Although it is the beach
and not a massacre this is still so appalling to me because it is something so
simple that I would never think to appreciate being allowed to go to any beach
I walk into.
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