Mostly out of fear.
In the 90s, hearing guns shots from that direction was a daily occurrence.
We would see the hostel and we would walk around it because it was out of bounds.
I never had a ‘friend’ who lived there until I had to go there for an interview.
I was scared.
I told a few people I was going and if I did not text them by a certain time, they should call the cops.
I even asked a friend to accompany me.
I expected the place to be loud, over populated and dirty.
It was a Friday and early evening when I turned into the entrance of the lines of white units.
Except for some Maskandi coming from the store, it was pretty quiet. And clean!
I was right about one thing… There was no shortage of Zulu men waiting to ‘mack’ on me.
I am not complaining – they were decent and respectful, actually.
And I did not see a single female the whole 45 minutes that I was there.
It was a great experience.
We make permanent decisions about people based on what we think we know about them, or where they come from. For an ‘integrated’ society, most of us are actually quite snobbish.
We entertain prejudice that allows us to look down on other people…
Somewhere in the world, someone is looking at where I live and thinking, “I would never go there.”
For what? And why?
