Show Only the Truth and Hide the Beauty
An afternoon in Windhoek is like a journey to Middle America. In essence you cease to forget that you live in Africa and your quaint town doesn’t have the most simple of luxuries as you slurp down a double thick chocolate malt with a side of nachos and cheese quesadillas at the local Spur. I know what you are thinking, ‘Tex-Mex in Namibia, impossible!’ Alas, it is true and there are many other pleasures in this land of plenty.
Where would Middle America be without the local mall to wile away the hours? Don’t say that America never gave the world anything. It has left its imprint on sub-Saharan Africa with the concept of shopping as a national pastime.
We can’t leave out Hollywood. How else would the world get their distorted view of Americans except through film? You can watch America through rose-colored glasses with a box of popcorn and a large coke at the local movie theater. Don’t think I didn’t enjoy it. I did. Immensely. I’m not ashamed to admit that I spent N$50 on a movie ticket to see the sixth Harry Potter movie and N$8 on two bags of sour gummy worms.
I arrived at the movie early and scoped out my seat. I found a great location, got comfy, and ripped open my bag of gummy worms. Life doesn’t get much better in the eyes of a PCV. Unfortunately my rose colored glasses were about to be ripped off my face and crushed by a group of 8 white Afrikaaners. The group trooped down the row to find only 5 available seats, turned, stared at me, and said, “You should move.” I responded, incredulously, “Are you kidding me?!?” Yet they continued to stand in front of me and stare as though this was a reasonable and appropriate request. As they clearly did not plan on moving and I did not want to watch the film with an Afrikaaner blocking my view I stood up, stomped over the chair, and moved to the EMPTY row behind me.
So, there you have it. My rose colored glasses were shattered by white Africans. One insignificant interaction with a group of Namibians opened my eyes to the undercurrent of entitlement and privilege that still runs strong despite the fact that the colonial era ended two decades ago.
That is sad my friend. Hopefully you can begin to understand what we (black) Africans have to live with… my prayers are with you. Be strong, and stand up against the oppressors!
Comment by Alistar — August 7, 2009 @ 2:39 pm
That was an unfortunate event. I doubt they would do that were you a white male or just plain African (especially the male). My point is that you being white and still encountering such inanity can only be because they are male chauvinists. They operate on the principle of male superiority on the basis of phenotypic differences.
Comment by Elvis — August 11, 2009 @ 10:08 am