Our Dirty White Car

I wrote this a few days ago:

We were down at South Beach today unloading our surfboards when a man came up to us asking if he could wash our car. He was a short, black man dressed in some dirty pants and an old soccer jersey. He kind of wandered around the car as we pulled on our wetsuits. He kept saying to Kylie, “Meessess, please, ten rand for a wash, please, I wash your car very good.” I could tell Kylie was uncomfortable. He didn’t necessarily appear drunk, but he wandered a little too closely into our comfort zone.

We were immediately suspicious. People come up to try and sell us things all the time, but this guy seemed to linger longer after we said no. Also, it was very early and there weren’t many other people around, so we were a little more concerned than usual. He continued to plead for 10 rand to wash the car, and we continued to refuse. We locked the car, and walked down to the beach. He seemed angry and disgusted with us.

As I surfed, I thought a lot about the situation. You are warned repeatedly about crime in South Africa. You hear about elaborate ploys that people use to steal your car, your bank card, your cell phone. You are taught not to trust anyone. These warnings made me wonder if this offer to wash our car was really just an excuse to stay close to it long enough to open it up and steal what was inside. Our car was dirty, and we had 10 Rand in the ash tray (about $1.50). But I thought we made the safe decision.

When we came back, we saw the guys washing another car for 10 Rand. They didnt look like they were going to steal it, just trying to make it cleaner for the owner. I realized that what had just happened was part of a cycle. Wealthy white people are worried and suspicious because of all the crime in South Africa. So when someone comes up to offer us a car wash, a broom, a necklace, or anything they can sell to make some money, we refuse. I though about how unreasonable we must have seemed to them. He had a right to seem angry. Two white people, obviously wealthy enough to have surfboards, refusing a car wash for what amounts to the change in our ash tray. 10 Rand is nothing, and we needed a car wash, yet we refuse out of fear. So we force a guy trying to make honest money to perhaps turn to crime. He steals someone’s purse or wallet. He contributes to the generalized fear of blacks in South Africa, the rumors circulate, we all warn ourselves into a state of paranoia, and the cycle continues. This obviously was a small example, but this happens everyday, all over South Africa.

So I have made this observation, but I don’t know how to break the cycle. I worry that letting your guard down really will result in theft of your car or your wallet. But that guard seems to keep blacks poor, and whites safely behind electric fences. I see why things like affirmative action get put into place, and that certainly is prevalent here. Some way to break the cycle

Well, its late and I am too tired to think of a solution to the racial tension that has been brewing in South Africa for hundreds of years. I just thought I would share this one example that might explain why it still exists today.