October 29, 2014, Wednesday. We planned two activities for today, one invigorating and one relaxing. The first was a walking tour of downtown Cape Town entitled Footsteps to Freedom. We and two other people met Ivor Shaskovsky, our guide, at the Taj Hotel at 10:30 this morning for a 2½ hour tour with a distinct point of view. The purpose of the tour was to educate us about the history of race relations here in Cape Town and why it is important for people everywhere to examine their own county's history in this regard. Our guide was knowledgeable and expert in his subject without devolving into polemics. The tour was keyed off an assortment of historic buildings with a few long pauses to bring us up to speed on the history connected to each. One of the women who joined us is actually a newly minted local tour guide whose company had recommended that she take this tour. She is what they call Cape Colored here. These are people of mixed race, usually including Indian. She confirmed what our guide described when he said that because of the high number of racial strands in a Cape Colored person's background, it is not at all unusual to see families composed of people who don't resemble each other at all. She showed me a picture of her sister who looked nothing like her.
I was struck by the fact that people here actually talk about race, unlike in the US where this is almost a taboo topic. I think this may be the real value of this tour and probably an outgrowth of the sea change that has taken place in South Africa in just the last 20-30 years. Nelson Mandela is not seen as a perfect person here, but he is certainly viewed as the premiere world statesman of the twentieth century for his ability to not only lead the anti-apartheid movement, both while he was free and even during his long years in prison, and for his whole-hearted embrace of all races once apartheid ended. This country today is truly a tribute to a man who insisted that everyone on earth is a member of the human race. Period.
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Walking through the Company's Garden on our way to the tour, imagine our surprise
to see a white squirrel! Shades of Brevard, NC. I think these are albinos, however.
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This afternoon we enjoyed afternoon tea, part of our Mount Nelson Hotel package. We would not have done this "reservations required" activity otherwise, but we are happy we found time for it. The hotel already knew we are vegans and when we were seated, we were told our vegan selections would be delivered to us. We had expected to settle for fruit and maybe a couple of the general buffet sweets offerings, but instead we received a full service of nicely prepared food suitable for our diet. The general offerings were even more mouthwatering, so rest assured, all tastes can be beautifully accommodated. The concierge had rightly suggested we sign up for the 1:30 tea and plan that for lunch instead of the 3:30 tea, which is too late for lunch and too early for dinner, hence a bit of a spoiler. We are tea drinking novices, and like all services at the Mount Nelson, we were made right at home and cheerfully instructed in both the teas on offer and in how the mechanics work. I especially loved the clear glass teapot with a lift-out infuser. Tea comes with a timer, and you are told how many minutes each tea requires, making for a perfect infusion for each variety. I ordered a lovely Japanese green tea which is somehow made with a subtle toasted rice flavor. It was delicious, and before I knew it, I had drunk the whole pot. I was offered more and actually agreed, but this time our server suggested I try the rooibos tea infused with orange and spice flavors because it is also caffeine free. I have tried rooibos at home, but this was a whole new level I hope to find there. I could become a real fan of both these teas. John ordered the hotel house blend, which we also liked. These were all loose leaf teas, made possible by that clever teapot I mentioned earlier. I suspect that pot might be the real secret to why these teas were so much better than the tea I am accustomed to drinking.
After tea, we wandered through The Company's Garden, just outside the front entrance to the hotel. It's a popular urban park, originally meant to be a source of food for the new Dutch colony here.
The dichotomy of the events of our day is not lost on me. We went from a frank victory march for racial equality in the morning to an equally frank display of the old ways in the afternoon, when all the guests were white and all the servers black or colored here in this historic bastion of white privilege.
It is impossible to see inside the mind of anyone else, but the nonwhites all over Africa have seemed open, happy, and upbeat. It is certainly true that today they have opportunities in education, jobs, housing, and even relationships that simply didn't exist a generation ago. Of course, most adults are still the product of the limitations of the past. It will probably take several generations for true equality to exist, but there seems to be a sense that this is possible here. As Ivor said to us, the difference between the black experience here and in the US is that here blacks were never enslaved. They were always free people. They may have been exploited but they were never forced to adopt a slave mentality. Coincidentally, this very morning I read an article in the Atlantic in which the (black) author flatly stated that blacks in the US are their own worst enemies simply because so many accuse their fellows of "acting white" the moment they do anything that might make them succeed. This self-defeating attitude doesn't seem to exist here. Where once blacks were kept firmly in a very low place, today, with what is repeatedly described as the best Constitution in the world, South African nonwhites now appear to see endless possibility ahead. I wish every American black child could experience Africa, not only to discover their roots but to envision the wings of the future.
After I wrote that, we went down for our last dinner here. I wish I could say it was wonderful, but instead it was a testimony to the folly of reordering something you loved the first time. We returned to the mushrooms, but instead of being hot, saucy, and divine, tonight they were lukewarm and merely okay. Frankly, if we had had them this way the first night, we would not have come back the second time, much less the third.
Walking out, I had to fill some waiting time and struck up a conversation with the black maitre d' of the restaurant. I asked him if blacks here are really as optimistic as they seem. His accent made him a little hard for me to understand, but I think the gist of his reply was that while Mandela was still president they were, but under his successor, they are not so sure. He seems to feel his management position here is more for show, that there is still a hand above him holding him down. I can only hope that this will become increasingly untrue as the generations of black citizens progress into the future, taking every advantage of the educational and economic opportunities available to them, and that they never forget the proud and free part of their heritage. All over the world, cultures have wasted enormous amounts of human potential by denying rights based on race, gender, or religion. What a world we could have if we put a stop to that. This morning Ivor asserted that all the best social change comes from women. He cited many examples, but still Mandela was a man, and he engineered astonishing change here. We are told that the one word symbolizing Mandela's philosophy is "rise." So I say to my granddaughters and all young girls all over the world, rise, ladies, rise
