Oriel

'If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.' - Desmond Tutu

I grew up on a citrus farm in the rural parts of the Eastern Cape. The hub of civilisation in the village of Addo consists of ‘Boetie’s Co-op’, which mainly sold sweets and absolute essentials, my old primary school and a library.
Growing up on Daisy Dell farm gave me the opportunity to become friends with a lot of the farm workers children. My best friend, Spelele and I used the time we had together to explore every piece of land in the farm constantly getting lost in different fantasy’s. However there were limits to our friendship. We were only friends within the boundaries of the farm. Ideals that I picked up from the surrounding community allowed me to think that I was better than Spelele. I knew that I was always allowed to pick the games. I knew that I could hit him without hitting him back and I believed that I was better than him and I looked at all people of colour in this way.
As we grew up I fell out of touch with Spelele. I went to boarding school in the big city and then on to my gap year in Europe where I really reflected on my tendencies to judge people by their skin colour. I looked at situations in my childhood from a more objective perspective and realised how my view was skewered.
I came back to Addo and worked in the local bar for three months in order to pass the time before university. Two men came in every single day. They would each drink a total of three beers and eight double brandy and cokes. One day one of the men explained how he had beat one of his workers for making a mistake. The rest cheerfully commented on his story. ‘He had it coming’ or ‘he deserved it’ was the outcome. I stood by in silence. I said nothing to stop them.