This TravelTalks gives a glimpse into South African history, albeit from a white person's viewpoint. It starts out looking at the administration building and FitzPatrick tells how South Africa is a union of 4 separate states: the Transvaal, the Orange Free State, Natal, and the Cape Provence.
One has to remember that when this was filmed and originally shown, most people didn't have an issue with the concept that the Boers brought civilization to the "dark continent" - a belief that Europeans were civilized and the peoples living in Africa were not. Today, most people, I hope, now realize how wrong statements like that are.
There are also comments about how the Boers fought the natives who stubbornly resisted them, which is often the case when someone wants to take over your land. FitzPatrick compares the Boers migrating to the Transvaal and the Orange Free State to the Americans who fought the Native Americans for their land. One of the "heros" of South Africa who was killed by the treacherous natives.
The land between Pretoria and Durban, according to FitzPatrick, was just ready for development.
The city of Durban had (has?) a children's swimming pool, which was for whites only. The other thing shown in Durban were some rickshaw drivers - some used for actual transportation, others for the tourists. The rickshaw drivers for tourists wore tribal clothing and were mainly giving tours of the city. Kind of like a Grayline bus that required the driver to walk all day long, pulling the rickshaw.
This is an interesting look at South Africa when Apartheid was in full effect and whites thought they were the needed force to civilize the non-Christian world. This doesn't show any shanty towns or how South Africa segregated people into various levels. It doesn't give you any idea that there were people who were being treated poorly because of their skin color - but then, the same sorts of things were happening in the United States.
One has to remember that when this was filmed and originally shown, most people didn't have an issue with the concept that the Boers brought civilization to the "dark continent" - a belief that Europeans were civilized and the peoples living in Africa were not. Today, most people, I hope, now realize how wrong statements like that are.
There are also comments about how the Boers fought the natives who stubbornly resisted them, which is often the case when someone wants to take over your land. FitzPatrick compares the Boers migrating to the Transvaal and the Orange Free State to the Americans who fought the Native Americans for their land. One of the "heros" of South Africa who was killed by the treacherous natives.
The land between Pretoria and Durban, according to FitzPatrick, was just ready for development.
The city of Durban had (has?) a children's swimming pool, which was for whites only. The other thing shown in Durban were some rickshaw drivers - some used for actual transportation, others for the tourists. The rickshaw drivers for tourists wore tribal clothing and were mainly giving tours of the city. Kind of like a Grayline bus that required the driver to walk all day long, pulling the rickshaw.
This is an interesting look at South Africa when Apartheid was in full effect and whites thought they were the needed force to civilize the non-Christian world. This doesn't show any shanty towns or how South Africa segregated people into various levels. It doesn't give you any idea that there were people who were being treated poorly because of their skin color - but then, the same sorts of things were happening in the United States.
