Whose History?

I dropped History as soon as I was allowed to in Grade 9. A bitchy teacher,  and a complete disinterest in the subject were the main motivating factors. I took Science instead. Ethers and Carbon bonds seemed more interesting than learning (again!) about Mona Lisa and her mysterious slight smile. It was actually in that exact lesson that I decided I couldn't be involved anymore. The Ginger midget stood in the front of the class, telling us about how the Mona Lisa was special because "it looks like the eyes are following you!". I think by then I was holding my breath to see if I could pass out before the lesson ended. Picking at my hands with a compass, I looked towards the clock hanging at the back. It told me ,mockingly, that I had half an hour left of this torture. Might as well use it wisely, so I decided to make a list of all the white-washed, refined shit I'd learnt in history class.

1) I know that the 'Khoisan' are Hunter-Gatherers
2)I know Bartholomeus Dias discovered the Cape of Good Hope, of course, no-one knew it was there before him.
3) 1652- the year Jan Van Riebeek landed in the Cape
4) Pirates used to get Scurvy
5)Hitler was a bad man who wrote a book called Mein Kampf, and killed a lot of Jews.
This was core curriculum for six years, repeated chopped and changed and sometimes interspliced with half-page 'tell-alls' dedicated to Nelson Mandela, The Great Trek and The Cullinan Diamond. Which makes wonder. Whose history are we learning anyway?

How is the Boston Tea Party something that is imperative for me, a South African youth to know? It makes no sense. Should our schooling system not be sending out balanced, informed, relevant individuals?Everyday, we hear people complain about us. The Lost Generation. The Hopeless ones, but what did they ever really teach us? What would you want your children to learn?

Before you teach us about Art History, about The Renaissance and the fucking Iron Curtain, teach us about our people.
Before you teach us about Da Vinci and Galileo, teach us about the Ethiopian astronomers who, in the words of the Vodacom dictator, had been having it.

We have stories, cultures and traditions that were pushed aside to make room for all the isms. In the interest of becoming more global people, we in fact ceased to be , a people.  Our only common heritage is the braai and our dislike for taxi's, and you wonder why we seem to be lost.

We're the ungrateful ones. The ones who are letting the blood that was spilt stain the streets in vain. You forget though, we have huge shoes to fill, and no-one ever thought to tell us how.