Reddit reviews Commando - Of Horses And Men

Mid thirties, white male. I was 14 when apartheid ended.

1.) Our country refers to itself as the rainbow nation. On TV this means people of all ethnicities and all backgrounds jumping around and dancing and waving their arms in the air. In practice, to me atleast, this is reflected in the amazing degree to which most people who interact in South Africa get along. All the different "groups" show great patience and restrain, despite personal frustration, as a collective effort to move forward. As an example, in most of the truly big social atrocities like the genocide against the native americans, the australian aborigines and the jews in Germany, the victims were not around afterwards, and as such forgiveness and self forgiveness might be much easier. In South Africa, victims and perpetrators lived side by side for many years. It took a lot of restraint and it will keep going for a long time. I think younger people, who were born after apartheid ended have a hard time figuring out how to feel about it. To what degree to adopt the feelings of their parents and to what degree to explore the new country that is forming around us.

2.) Sporting emblems, like the national flower "the protea", and "the springbok". Nelson Mandela is probably the most unifying emblem.

3.) The dominant language in South Africa is english. Zulu and Xhosa are both spoken by more people as a first language, but English drives the national debates, business and education. Languages are often seen as mapping on races perfectly which is a pretty big mistake. This unfortunately leads to some misguided policies around languages.

4.) Our constitution is one of the most friendly ones when it comes to minorities. South Africa is home a growing number of immigrants from other african countries. Their is tension between unemployed people in South Africa who feel that the immigrants take their jobs. I believe this is the case in all countries in the world, so nothing new here.

5.) The original french people who came to South Africa fled for their religion. It was a pretty far out place to come to so I reckon people held their religion close to their heart. The african people, as far as I understand, are to a very large extent christian, while to some extent entertaining the non-christian religions of their ancestors, sometimes, in parallel. Our constitution protects all religions. Im not sure all are welcomed equally, although I strive for this.

6.) One of the biggest challenges to our national identity is our government. It is an extremely polarising force. The general ineffectiveness, cronyism and corruption force staunch supporters to turn a blind eye and everyone else to be very upset, and patient at the same time. In the next 10-20 years the children of today will hopefully not feel a particular historic allegiance to the current government, and be willing to evaluate them on their merit.

7.) South Africa was colonized by the Dutch and the British. A large number of immigrants came from France and Germany. There are also a large number of Portugese, Greek and Italian people as well as Jews. Indian people, as well as people of Malay background are also prevalent. South Africa has the biggest Indian population outside of India. South Africa has a long history with Zimbabwe and Namibia as neighbours. South Africa has a very strong history with the UK. We were a colony and fought a big war against the British at the beginning of the 20th century. The bravery and genius of the afrikaner people in this war is seldom discussed and many liberal afrikaans south africans mistakenly feel that they need to disown this wonderful part of our history in order to distance themselves from what came 60 years later with apartheid. For a great book that helps to illustrate this war form a first hand account of a 17year old boy you should read Commando. It is a great way of understanding the mutual respect that the people of these two countries had for one another.

Ok, enjoy and good luck! As you can see South Africans are very proud of our country and we love talking about it :)