For many years in South Africa, many people were made to feel ashamed of their past. Indeed, many of them could not think of celebrating their cultural heritage when they were faced with a simple struggle to survive.
What forms of cultural celebration we did have seem corrupted, poisoned as they were by the false divisions that were fostered between us. It was a time of a country uncomfortable with itself and its people. Because of that, we often seemed trapped in a prison of the present that could not let us move forward because we refused to face the past.
We have moved past those dark days and that shame. Tomorrow, we celebrate an integral part of our life as a nation by recognising our heritage.
Many people take this recognition for granted. But we should not allow our memories to lapse so easily. We are a diverse people, to be sure. The myriad communities that comprise our society can often seem confusing, even intimidating. But we must not allow ourselves to be overwhelmed by our differences.
Every day in South Africa, and in Cape Town especially, we negotiate a rich and complicated cultural space. In subtle ways that we often do not think about, we have incorporated a rich blend of cultural understandings into our daily lives.
They are the unconscious markers that allow us to map the social terrain and contribute to a richness of life that we do not always seem to recognise. Every day, in different ways, we celebrate our differences. And we are richer for it.
Heritage Day gives us the opportunity to recognise the root sources of that which adds to our lived experience. It allows communities to come together and recognise what made them. It allows people to recognise the strength that they draw from. And it allows still others to identify those strengths in others.
These things create pride. But that pride does not isolate itself in pockets of sealed-off communities. Instead, those heritages meet and act upon each other, strengthening each other and each one of us. For we do not live beyond accessible barriers. We live in an inter-related fusion of different cultural strands. Individually, they have value. Together, they are priceless.
We have much that separates us. But this administration is working towards building a more inclusive city. Inclusion is built on mutual respect and dignity.
Together, they become the drivers of a new space for individuals to recognise themselves in. That energy will help propel us into the future. While we may not necessarily know what awaits us beyond the horizon, we know that we shall need all the strength that we can find to face it.
Over the course of the next month, the City will be celebrating our heritage in numerous ways. From expositions, to museum tours, to special community events and meetings, we want to bring people together. We are proud to acknowledge our communities in these ways. But the real acknowledgement must come in our everyday lives.
We must embrace the essential truth that we really can find unity in our diversity, if only we allow ourselves to try.
This article by Patricia de Lille first appeared in Cape Town This Week: A weekly newsletter by the Executive Mayor of Cape Town.
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