National flower: the King Protea
Of all the questions that I’ve gotten about my trip to South Africa, here are the top two.
#1. Are you glad you went?
Yes! It was an adventure. I got out of my comfort zone. I made new friends. I learned stuff. My world view got wobbled. I used my brain in different ways. I did new things and ate new food and felt uncomfortable and tired and invigorated, and all of that is a very good thing.
#2. Do you think other people should go?
This answer’s a little more complicated. The short answer is yes, of course. The more people with wobbly world views, the better (and you can quote me on that). But travel to South Africa takes lots of resources — financial and environmental — and it’s not really practical to think that many other people will make the trip. Nor should they, necessarily. I’ve noticed that it’s often the teens and young twenty-somethings who seem to do more international travel (either on their parents’ dime or via their own savings or as a part of their college studies), or the retired folk (just look at the demographics in our group!), but I believe there are two groups who should be encouraged to go on this trip.
Group 1: Young middle-lifers
People in their 30s and 40s have an idea of what they want to do in the world, and they’ve had some experience doing it. They have energy, and they still have a large chunk of their working lives ahead of them, years in which they can implement new ideas that may have a ripple effect in their own communities. The downside is that this demographic often has kids, mortgages, and college debt, which means that financial and logistical assistance is required so — here’s an idea — perhaps some of the retired folk might opt to forgo an adventure for themselves and instead sponsor some younger people to go in their place?
Group 2: Leaders of Global Organizations
I’m thinking specifically of Mennonite Central Committee, one of our church’s organizations that does development and peace work around the world, but leaders of any type of outreach organization — anyone who aspires to “help” people in other parts of the world — would be enormously challenged and impacted by this sort of pilgrimage. Of all the people who might go to South Africa, I believe this is the number one group that needs to go. (Any MCC folks reading this? Let’s talk!)
***
Throughout our trip, our leaders repeatedly referred to the Kairos Document, a paper that was written in the mid-80s by a bunch of South Africans as a challenge to the church. One of my first days back home, I printed it off (it starts on page 37) and read most of it before breakfast.
It was one of the most interesting and thought-provoking documents I’ve read in a while because it challenged some core theological ideas around peace, forgiveness, and reconciliation.
from the Tutu’s museum
For example, according to the South African Kairos doc:
- When we call for peace, who is calling for it, and why? Because saying “peace, peace” can actually be a form of oppression, depending on who is benefited by it.
- Notice which actions get classified as “violent” and which ones don’t, and then ask why. Many times, when disadvantaged groups of people act out, their actions are labeled violent but the police/military response is not. To take this one step further, consider this: Is a woman who is fighting back against a rapist being “violent”?
- Being reconciled to an oppressor is an act of self-sabotage and a ludicrous goal.
- When Jesus says to “turn the other cheek,” he is not talking making a statement about refraining from using force or resisting injustice. Rather, he is speaking against taking revenge.
Interesting fact: This South African Kairos doc inspired the Palestinian Christians to write their own version of a Kairos doc, which you can read here.
***
After returning home, I listened to this Fresh Air interview with Ta-Nehisi Coates, which helped me assimulate some of the complexities I was struggling to process. Some key notes:
- Coates often gets frustrated with journalists because they like to say the situation (in this case, he was talking about Palestine) is complicated when it’s actually quite simple: there is one system of justice for one group of people and another set of justice for another group of people.
- Figuring out how to fix the problem is the complicated part, said Terry. Yes, Coates agreed, but the first step is that the people on the other side of the situation people — the people living under apartheid, or suffering from the after-effects of apartheid — need to be “enshrined” to tell their story. Those are the people who need to articulate what needs to change, not us.
- Oppression is not necessarily ennobling. Victims can become victimizers. For example, Black enslaved people fought against the Native Americans, free Black North Americans inflicted their ideals on Black Liberians in an attempt to “civilize” them, and the Jews suffered the Holocaust and are now inflicting a genocide on the Palestinians.
***
I didn’t get around to finishing one of my books about South Africa — My Traitor’s Heart — until after I’d returned. And here’s the thing: reading about South Africa prior to going compared to afterward was a totally different experience.
Beforehand, reading about South Africa made me feel anxious. I felt overwhelmed by the stories, the violence, the complexities, the traumas. Since I didn’t know the context, there was no way for me to put the information in context, but since coming home, even though the material is still heavy and uncomfortable, it’s no longer scary. Now that I’ve been in South Africa, I have a framework within which to ground the material.
***
The first time I mentioned that South Africa was dangerous, a commenter said, “Don’t perpetuate that narrative. Those places are so, so much more,” which is very true. But it’s also true that South Africa is dangerous.
The question, I think, is not whether or not South Africa is dangerous, but rather why.
Why is South Africa dangerous?
Who is perpetuating the violence?
How do we define violence?
Steve told us that there are two levels of violence. The violence that we see, and that we most often react to, is the second level of violence: the fighting, the looting, the uprisings, the slapping back, the lashing out. However, it’s the first level of violence — the silent, quiet ways in which our systems oppress, segregate, demean, minimize, and diminish Black and brown people — that causes the second. This first level of violence is often invisible (to us white people), so we are mostly unaware of it.
***
One day, Pokie used an analogy to illustrate the problem with reconciliation and reparations.
Here’s my version of it, wildly paraphrased:
Imagine that someone came to your house, told you to get out, and then took up residence there. These people slept in your beds and ate the food in your freezer and grew stuff in your garden. So you camped close to your house and, whenever possible, raised cain over the injustice. The people living in your house eventually decided that they wanted some peace, so they approached you to ask how they might be reconciled to you. Would you like to plant something in the garden? Do you want to stay in the guest room? Would you like to come over for supper once a week? Tell us! We want to be your friends!
If the thief won’t let go of the stuff they stole, what does reconciliation look like?
***
The trip to South Africa was Chapter Two of a four part series hosted by Mennonite Mission Network.
Chapter 1: The US South.
Chapter 2: South Africa.
Chapter 3: The Underground Railroad, Florida to DC.
Chapter 4: Benin, West Africa.
While the trip to South Africa pulled me out of my context in order to learn about the place in which I live, the trip to the South felt more tangible, more raw and pertinent, because it focused on our history and gave the backstory to our many of our current issues. Both are valuable, just different.
***
In case you might end up going to South Africa one of these days, here are some travel tips!
- Pack two of these absolutely necessary big-ass adapters: one for you and one for someone else in your group who will forget to bring one.
- Almost everything can be purchased with a credit/debit card — even street vendors have handheld scanners — but understand this: no one will ever take your card and walk away to make a payment as we do in US restaurants. If your card walks away, it may not come back.
- Having some cash (rand) is nice, so go to an ATM and get a small wad. I did not do this, and there were a couple times it would’ve been nice to have some on hand.
- Ubering is wonderful. Download the app. Do NOT take taxis.
- Get an eSIM. Works a charm. 10 Gigs for $32 was more than enough for my 2.5 weeks there.
- Never ever ever leave a bag sitting anywhere unattended in public. It will not be there when you get back.
- There is no obvious dress code, at least not in the city. In churches, most women keep their shoulders covered, and dresses hang knee-length or lower.
- The climate is fickle. Pack layers.
- Tipping is expected.
- Take a headlamp. Power is not consistent or reliable.
- Hit up street vendors for all the souvenirs. They have lots of small things like bracelets (I actually wish I got more), key chains, hats, and necklaces.
- Food items to schlep home: biltong, rusks, meat-flavored potato chips, mealie meal, peri-peri, Ms. H. Ball’s Chutney, wine (pinotage), amarula liquor, shortbread, and loads of rooibos tea.
- Do all the food shopping in a grocery store prior to heading to the airport. I thought I’d just pick up a few things in the duty-free section, but the stuff was crazy expensive and the selection was crap.
- Important IMPORTANT note: if you’re flying through Doha on the return trip, you are not allowed to carry more than 1 liter of wine. I’d planned to get all my wines in the duty-free store so I wouldn’t have to pack them, but check out lady looked at my boarding pass and was like, Nope, you can’t take these. DO NOT EVEN GET ME STARTED ON THIS LEVEL OF CRAZY. So I came home with nothing: no pinotage, no white, no amarillo. I am bitter.
- Silver lining: However, if flying Qatar airlines, you can check three bags; if I’d-a planned better, I would’ve gotten an extra bag, stuffed it full of ALL the food and wine, and then checked it. Next time!
And thus concludes my South Africa writings. If you’ve been following along, thank you and congratulations. We made it!
It was quite the trip.
xoxo
This same time, years previous: follow-up, whey ricotta, how we homeschool: Rebecca, Clymer and Kurtz, my sweet beast, the quotidian (12.4.17), by a thread, the quotidian (12.5.16), oatmeal sandwich bread, the college conundrum.