Day 4: Did he just call me a "nigga"?!?!?
Day 4: Mamelodi Secondary School & NYU Mixer
Today we were able to go into the local school district and observe classes as well as teach. This experience was one of the draws of the SAI program for me, so I was very excited. 
When we first arrived we were introduced to the principal and the heads of the various departments. After all of that we were able to pair up with teachers that we were to shadow for the day. Generally, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I was able to follow a Geography teacher and cot each a history class with one of the other participants. The most memorable portion of the day was when my portion of the class was discussing racial classification in South African and comparing it to America. I asked the student why I would be defined as "coloured" in South Africa and they proceeded to point out the difference in my hair texture as well as skin color. I then proceeded to ask what they thought I would be defined as in the US and after a brief pause, one of the students answered "a nigga".
Yes, yes. You read that correctly. MTv has gotten children all the way across the Atlantic to believe that this term is both descriptive and endearing term for melinated peoples. I would just like to take this moment to thank YMCMB for spending thousands of dollars and coming half way across the world to be called a nigga by a child. Needless to say, I stopped my lesson and broke down the "n-word" to these children to the point that they looked at me like a crazy person when I asked them if they wanted me to call them a "nigga". After this breakout lesson, I resumed my planned lesson. The idea was that I layed out a map of the world and took different pictures from across the diaspora and had the students guess which country the people were in. Here is a sample of some of the pictures...
The point of the lesson begin that poverty and stuggle exists in America as well as other "developed" countries. The results were quite interesting. One of the students found it so hard to believe that he said that I was lying and that I should prove it. The lesson was extremely successful, so much so that the students convinced their teacher to allow us to stay and continue to teach and so they could ask us more questions. The students also found it hard to believe that my own students struggle with gangs, drugs, teen pregnancy, and poverty just like they do in Mamelodi South Africa. I can't wait to bring this information back to my students to see their reaction.
NYU Mixer
That evening when we got back to the hotel, we got an opportunity to participate in a joint program with Professor Teboho Moja from the NYU Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development. The lecture that we participated in was with Dr. Joseph B. Diescho, Director of International Relations and Partnerships at the University of South Africa. It was AMAZING! We got to hear from a person who was actually part of the liberation of the country and someone who is knowledgeable and realistic about its rebuilding. I also found a new interest in the whole Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) process that occurred. Though the process was not perfect and in some ways and views "Justice" was not realized. However, the very notion of forgiveness and reconciliation is completely foreign to African-Americans. I find the idea very African in construction and application in addressing an open political and painful occurrence. I am interested in bringing this idea back to the states and finding what others think of this idea.
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