Article October 28, 1991 Issue

Love integrates

Love and forgiveness are the keys to overcoming the fear and hatred that would divide black and white.

Dorothy Dipuo Maubane

In February 1990, South Africa saw the release of Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners. The ban on many political organizations was lifted, and the media found new freedom of expression. This came close on the heels of the fall of the Berlin Wall and in Eastern Europe the rise of the democratic movements and the virtual collapse of the iron curtain.

Here in South Africa, in my township, people went out to celebrate Mandela's release, to dance, sing, and cry. Church bells rang, car horns hooted, and electric poles were hit to produce sounds of joy!

Nevertheless, intertwined with the spirit of rejoicing is fear of the future. A white minority fears that if blacks come into power, they will act without restraint to avenge the accumulated injustices and brutality of the years of apartheid. Many white people fear retaliation. Others have a morbid fear of integration. Both black and white people are afraid, worried and unsure of the future, especially because of the violence and the loss of life that have swept the country in recent months. People fear that economic collapse will result in poverty, corruption, and dictatorship.

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