Albereth you make a good point and I concede that I had a great childhood in apartheid SA (until I was had to do compulsory military service for nearly 3 years and saw a few mates die!). However, while a number of blacks do not have an improved life, a number of them do. They do however have freedom. You must not forget that blacks were not allowed to own freehold land, were forcibly removed from areas (group areas), had to have a pass to move from one area to another, were given inferior education, discriminated against in the work place, we had the homelands where thousands were forced to settle, while the men came to SA to work and were forced to live in hostels ( we still see the repurcussions of that policy) etc. I am not saying the past was all bad and the present is all good. I just think the past was worse overall for ALL South Africans.
Kathryn made the bold statement that apartheid was worse in the states ( I assume the USA) without backing her statement up. I get the feeling that she is uninformed. The fact is most South Africans were "brainwashed" by the media and did not see what was actualy going on. Those of us that were involved in the defence force were exposed to this as were people who lived overseas.
When I lived in PE as a child we lived close to a township. One day we picked up a game of cricket with the township children. A white neighbour saw this and called the police, who chased the township children away. That was my first experience of the real apartheid as a 9 year old. I will never forget that day, I lost my innocence. I had an uncle who fell in love with an Indian lady. They were not allowed to marry nor live/sleep together, as it was against the law. You realy think those days were better. Me, I think I would choose my current lifestyle anyday.
