Thursday, July 17, 2008

johannesburg

today i met an old south african who moved here about 40 years ago but still has an accent. he owns a shop called calabash gifts on monroe st, close to our store. we got into a discussion about south africa and the direction it's going. he basically said that johannesburg, which he lived in nd which used to be a beautiful, urban, delightful city, has turned into a huge slum. after apartheid ended everyone was free to do as they please and move where they want. which in theory is a good thing. however, white people , hostile and still wanting seperation, fled the country. people with less money moved into the aneighbordhoods, and more and more rural people migrate to the city for work, move in, the cycle continues, poverty stretches throughout downtown. it is dangerous to even stop your car on a highway that i was driving on with benno. there were signs that said 'warning, don't stop. highjack zone'. crazy shit.
the man was saying apartheid still remains, and i said yes, it is not a race apartheid, but a class apartheid now. some blacks have done well while most have remained below the line of poverty. the government is doing the best they can, but as south africa reaches into being a ;global; trader and recognizedcountry in the manufacturing world, there are other things on the government's mind. which is unfortunate, seeing all the country has gone through.
do citizens not see that? do they not see whwat is happening to the country, through their crime and violence? there should be a revolution against the government , not killings against eachother. make the government think about these people that nelson mandela struggled for.
it feels really good to talk about these kinds of things again. i miss it. i miss it. maybe design isnt the best track. but what would i do with this? i just like to think about this stuff. why the world is the way it is. what people think about it.
ialso saw a senegalese film today, was about a black girl from dakar that moved to france with her mistress.she was respected in senegal, but when she moved to france, the mistress and her husband treated her like complete shit. she then killed herself, she would rather be dead than live as someone's maid. her dream of living in france and leading a normal life was shattered.
really makes you think about the lines dividing cultures and how blacks were seen in the sixties...i have a feeling not much has changed now...i guess i KNOW it hasnt...but really, what kind of people would basically bring a black girl from senegal to be your maid in france? its like a slave.
going to bed ant keep my eyes open

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