South-Africa, racism, and a "blue-pill"

I've always been a big fan of the movie "The Matrix". One of my favorite scenes is when Neo is offered the famous rabbit-hole decision.

Living in South-Africa, and I don't mean only staying here, confronts one with realities of race, class, poverty and also social responsibility on a daily basis. In the past few weeks, this confrontation has intensified through my involvement in an cross-cultural conversation about apartheid, poverty and Christianity. You can read more about this from Tom and Trevor, friends who are thankfully leading us in this (I doubt if I would have been here on own initiative!).

This past Sunday, the meeting reached a new level of discomfort for me. I ended up facilitating the conversation and wanted to start off by checking in with what we've already learned over the past few weeks. I also wanted us to see if we could recognise the small shifts that's already taking place, of which I'm sure there are many. In retrospect, this positive inquiry, which easily epitomises the discourse in SA, seems premature. It felt like the "how's your mother" kind of friendliness made way for a "who the hell do you think you are" kind of truth, quite abruptly. The truth is that there's still a lot to talk about, and transformation doesn't happen simply because we share coffee and chats once a week.

It's a red-pill/blue-pill kind of thing in which I often opt for the blue pill. And so I wonder: Are we trying to wipe the decades of dirt under the carpet? Are we expecting victims of our past to simply become victors in the blink of an eye? Are we really naive enough to think positive inquiry can bleach away the stain of sustained suffering, which for many blacks in SA continue till this day. I'm confronted, amongst other things, with a hastiness that speaks only to, I think, an ignorance about how "deep the rabbit hole goes".