I will be the first to admit that I am part of the converted. Having held the view- similarly to some of my youth compatriots- that our elders had abandoned the fight for freedom. Yes abandoned, not passed on the baton.
Recent events have changed my perspective. I have come to see that unlike the wild and sometimes uncontainable rage of the youth; the collective adult population has a higher tolerance threshold, more like a slow burn. Combined, the two approaches have culminated in a consistent and necessary fire for this, our new democratic season.
As a youth, my first reaction to the call for free, decolonized education at our universities was “Yes! I am behind you and so are all of our parents, because the work is not yet done. We are not all free”. But when I turned to look back, what I found instead was folded arms and angry frowns, as if the very children they had raised to be conscious and proud had somehow disobeyed them.
This was puzzling and felt like a deep betrayal. How had it come to be that these once great champions of freedom and equality in our lifetime; were now the perpetrators of our oppression? Why, in less time than most of their children had been alive, had they resigned themselves to conformity and acceptance of the status quo?
My mind darted from place to place as I tried to understand this phenomenon. Perhaps our parents were suffering from a sort of latent PTSD, which, upon the resurgence of this call for freedom, rendered them paralysed and incapable of action. This made sense to me; maybe their remonstrance was not for us, but rather for them. Perhaps their shame of having failed to fully realise the promises of democracy wouldn’t let them help. Or perhaps, most frighteningly, they see nothing wrong with our society and are willing to protect the little and unequal democracy that they have by all means necessary.
I had to look again, think it through again. The optimist in me would not let me believe these things to be true and thankfully, to my great delight I was wrong, mostly.
We are all aware of the multiplicity of challenges we face in this country. This past week, with all the demonstrations that took place, I was reminded that we have a vibrant and active citizenry that’s firing on all cylinders to address them. Everyone is in fact playing their part, taking on their challenges as best they can. We are all taking our democratic responsibility seriously, holding those that need to be, accountable.
Our elders, the slow burn. Our youth, the wild fires. As if cosmically synchronized, have all stepped up and claimed their individual place in the history of this great nation. As usual, but a little more in times like these, I am proud to be South African.