For my first blog, I wanted to expand on my journal entry on Melrose Arch, and how it differs from just about every other place we have seen in Johannesburg so far. Melrose Arch is a wealthy community built specifically for the people with money who wish to separate themselves from other less safe and less prosperous areas, and people, in South Africa and around Johannesburg. It is located just down the street from the township of Alexandra, where there are people getting by on the bare minimum, collecting water for drinking, dish washing, and bathing right in between where large piles of trash are left and a line of port-o-potties are located that the entire community shares. Melrose Arch began being built in 2007, and cost 800 million rands to build. The purpose of it was to reposition the city of Johannesburg at the end of Apartheid, by trying to make it a more “world-class” city. The differences between places like Alexandra and Melrose Arch represent just about everything that we have learned about the Apartheid. Blacks are given barely enough to get by, while whites live in luxury with complete power over Blacks, purely because of the color of their skin.
It was impossible not to feel uncomfortable upon entering Melrose Arch, seeing what money is being put towards when there are so many people struggling and suffering right next door. It really made me put things into perspective, mostly regarding my own life back home. Had I visited Melrose Arch in any other context, I would have thought it looked like a nice, clean, pleasant place to stay. The attitudes and overall unfriendliness of the people there would not have made me think twice. But being primed with seeing Alexandra, I couldn’t help but think of all of the people we saw as almost robotic, unhappy, unpleasant people just living in a bubble, separating themselves from all of the struggles and injustices of the world. The community was quiet, sterile, and quite empty at the time of our visit. The fact that it was built to be like a city so that people could have everything they needed without ever having to leave is very unsettling to me. I pictured families raising their children there, and couldn’t help but feel bad for those children. The fact that we now know a lot of the history of South Africa and are aware of the way black and colored people have been, and still are, treated, seeing a community like this makes it seem as though no progress has been made. It is yet another example, and possibly one of the most extreme, of separations among people being made strictly on the basis of wealth and race. The presence of this community seems to do nothing but set South Africa’s progress towards equality back significantly. On another hand, I suppose one could say that it is not much different from affluent suburbs being located just outside of cities in the U.S., where there are people living in poverty and struggling to get by. This is a hard thing for me to consider, since I want to think that where many of us live at home in the U.S. could never be like Melrose Arch, and that we are much better people than that. But how different is it really? It is different in the sense that Melrose Arch is quite literally a five minute drive down the street from Alexandra, while suburbs outside of cities are typically a bit more removed. It is also unnecessarily perfect, with everything kept clean, all of the nicest stores and restaurants available, massive flat screens projecting the popular sports games so you never have to be inconvenienced by missing one thing, and luxurious hotels for anyone who wishes to visit. Most suburbs do at least have a wealthy area and a less wealthy area, so they are not typically pure wealth throughout the entire community. The similarities though also cannot be ignored, since suburbs in the U.S. are examples of people with money separating themselves from those without, but still living close enough so that it is convenient for them and so that they still have access to the cities.
As I have mentioned in a few of my journals, the difference in the quality of people in Melrose Arch compared to townships and informal settlements is the most disappointing thing to notice and come to terms with. Unhappy, stressed out wealthy people in Melrose Arch, compared to happy, friendly, and energetic people living in the poor area of Alexandra. It is also disheartening to think about how this difference in people will likely never fully change. I am so curious about the education of those children living in places like Melrose Arch and Sandton, another wealthy community, and how in depth the schools require they be taught about Apartheid, and the people who are still living just down the street from them. Being kept in such a bubble prevents an entire group of people from being able to make any changes or progress in South Africa. I am so glad that we were given the opportunity to see Marble Arch in the context that we did, because it was such an eye opening experience, and probably one of the only contexts that would make me think so deeply about different communities and how they compare to and influence each other.
Comments
Post a Comment