When one mentions South Africa the things that quickly come to mind, are apartheid, Nelson Mandela, AIDS, poverty and most of all one thinks of racism. Its difficult to think of the country without thinking of the issue of race, as the lines where deeply etched in the countries history, and lines that deep do not fade very quickly. It was almost 14 years ago that apartheid came to an end, and while the wounds of history remain, they are healing.
One teenage girl shows the nation that you can dance in both the black and white worlds, that they can truly become one even in a country with fresh wounds. Isabella Mosime has a white family, and as a black child, she easily stood out in a country which remains intrigued by the issues of race. However Bella says she doesn't see race and she socializes on both sides of the fence, however even Bella and her friends still know that while they may have friends of all colors, that there is much more that has to be done to ensure the country truely grows in the “Rainbow Nation” of so many peoples dream's.
“We have come a long way – interaction is happening between everybody and every race,” she said. “But I think there is not enough understanding. I think we still have a long way to go.”
“I think we are expected to be the perfect nation, but we’re not,” said 16-year-old Khumo Khumalo, a 10th-grader at Parktown Girls who lived in Soweto as a young girl and shares Bella's love for hip-hop dancing. “That's because we’ve had so much to deal with. Slowly, day by day, we’re going to get there, because we have so many young people who want to bridge the gap between the races. I have a lot of hope.” (Living beyond racial bounds).
And while the Bella, illustrates the progress that has been made and can be made, the racial divide remains and much needs to be done to see that the gap closes. The key to bringing all South Africans together as one, is hope and determination and that can be found in the children. Bella's story is only one in a series entitled Mandela's Children, which has articles that document the issues faced by South Africa's first post-apartheid generation. The issue of racial discrimination will not go away if we close our eyes, but this generation was born to keep their eyes open, so that future children will hopefully never see the racial divide.
