S. Sithole 44926987 

The Single Story 

Growing up in a lower-class township from a middle-class household, I wasn't exposed to a lot. I was exposed to the world around me, which didn't compromise of a lot. Just bare minimum education, poverty and crime. I would sometimes visit my relatives who resided in the suburban areas and were well off financially. I would experience culture shock almost every time.

The environment there was different and so were the people. They mostly communicated in English and went to good schools. I would find it rather difficult to separate life from Kwa-Thema from life in Kempton Park. I would often find myself projecting my experiences and my personal views of the world. Where I came from we were told that black people who lived in the suburbs were sellouts and were involved in hideous crimes, along with the white people. We were told no matter how smart you were, you would never leave the location unless you were acquainted with white people or involved in crime.

So that molded my perspective on white people and rich black people as a child. I alienated myself from my rich cousins because of what I had been told. I was envious of white people's privilege yet at the same time despised them. Because I had never been exposed to some parts of the world and society, I had a single story narrative about how the world operated. I developed a victim mentality. There were misunderstandings which robbed hardworking people off their dignity.

I also came to a realization that the very same rich cousins had their own assumptions about my world, my society which also robbed us off our dignity. These single stories did nothing but perpetuated harmful stereotypes and discrimination. I have since unlearned these perspectives and assumptions that were shoved in me. I now embrace each and every race, culture, religion and beliefs. I do my research before concluding on anything. Since arriving in North West I discovered the versatility in people, I have also found similarities within the different races, cultures and religions. At the end of the day we are all human and the only race that matters is the human race.