Best answer to a heinous deed

Act allowed for the infamous destruction of Sophiatown, a suburb of Johannesburg. In February 1955, 2000 policemen began removing Sophiatown residents to Meadowlands, Soweto and established the suburb as an area for whites only, newly called Triomf (Victory). In some cases, the nonwhites were loaded onto trucks and dumped into the bush to fend for themselves.’’

Horrendous, evil legislation, turning people’s lives upside-down with a minimum of thought.

Looking back, I’m also conscious of how that legislation contributed to the shaping of minds, embedding a narrative of white dominance and black subservience. It wasn’t the first place in the world where colonialism had brought such division, not by a long chalk, but that regrettable piece of legislation gave it a perverse legitimacy.

Of course, the racist ruling ideology pervaded all aspects of life. This week’s announcement about the teaching of New Zealand history in schools is welcome and overdue. It also takes me back to primary school in Johannesburg in the 1970s, where I don’t ever remember hearing the term apartheid in history lessons.

If the Contact Hypothesis suggests increasing contact with those different from us breaks down barriers grounded in ignorance, laws that severely limit that contact decrease understanding and build those barriers higher. I wish now I’d understood more so much earlier, about the barriers and about who