Pretoria is the capitol city of South Africa and only 45 minutes north of Johannesburg. During our day in Pretoria, we started at the Voortrekker Monument and ended at Freedom Park. The two sites sit on separate hills in view of each other.
The Voortrekker Monument was built in remembrance of the Afrikaners (the Dutch settlers) who trekked across South Africa and fought the Zulu people. In our program director’s words, “The Voortrekker Monument would be the equivalent of Klu Klux Klan headquarters for black and colored South Africans.” To understand the statement, one needs to understand apartheid was built by the Afrikaner people. As well as the monument was built just before the structured era of apartheid.
This sharp structure scared me more in the context of my own, personal history, than in South African context. The Afrikaners are Dutch and Reformed, two aspects of my own identify. As I listened to our tour guide explain the story of the Afrikaners, I could easily understand their ideologies.
The particular image that caught me off guard is the yearly reenactment of their trek across South Africa. Every December, Afrikaners dress up in the period clothes of the trekkers with horse and buggy. Initially I chuckled at these images, until I recalled Holland, Michigan in May. Every May, Hollanders dress up in traditional Dutch costume to wash the streets, parade down main road, and dance in city center. I fight this parallel frightening. The image as well as the ideologies of the Afrikaners makes me question my own identity. I wonder if my own pride in my Dutch Reformed heritage is more oppressive than nourishing.
Freedom Park stands in juxtaposition to the Voortrekker monument. It is built to not only remember the past, but also to think about the present and future of South Africa. It is a beautiful place with great thought put into every detail in order to be inclusive of all the people of South Africa.
(Look closely at the second picture and you’ll see Voortrekker Monument in the distance)
1 comments:
How fascinating that you're learning about your own identity even in South Africa. It sounds like this semester has been such a time for growth and realization of the world. That's awesome. Keep searching, exploring, and discovering! You'll not regret it. :)
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