Observing the life and times of a ‘Kaffir Boy’

Extract

[...] Part amazement and part rage filled me on account that the family hid from the police in so many instances when the only crime they committed was that of being born with dark skin outside of the city in different parts of the traditional tribal reserves. There was no way for Johannes' parents to fix their papers or passes. The system of apartheid was cruel and discriminating, either you were accepted or you never could be accepted. In America blacks never had to carry passes around to verify their identity and control their movement. [...]

[...] And in both systems, that of apartheid and American slavery, to be black was to never truly be accepted and guaranteed the same rights as society as a whole. The conversations that Johannes and members of his community had with the police and those in authority were interesting because I could imagine the same feelings and thoughts that Johannes had in a contemporary setting. I could understand his hesitation in speaking, and fear of what was to come even when he had committed no wrong. [...]

[...] To hear an account of Africans admiring and applauding the efforts of African Americans was strangely refreshing. Until I read that passage it had not consciously occurred to me that African Americans want so much to be applauded for their efforts and accomplishments by those from the African continent. Differences between past racial relations in the U.S. and in apartheid South Africa were obvious. There was never a pass system in the United States for blacks like there was in South Africa. [...]