9781422285909

INTRODUCTION L ocated at the southern tip of Africa where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet, South Africa is a land of immense beauty and vast wealth, a country that is slowly recovering from the deep racial divisions that marred its history. Nearly as large as Great Britain, France, and Sweden combined, South Africa is one of the richest, largest, and the most industrialized country in Africa. Its climate is extremely dry in some areas, while other areas experience tremendous rainfall. It has a mountainous coastline, gleaming cities, and poverty-stricken slums. Nearly 80 percent of the country’s population are black and 9 percent are white. Until the late twentieth century, the white minority ruled the coun- try’s political and social landscape with a heavy racist hand, instituting a policy of apartheid that created untold economic, social, and cultural hard- ships for blacks. That all began to change in the 1980s as the country began to fully democratize. Today, at least on paper, South Africa is one nation no longer divided by race, although social, economic problems persist, and inequality still runs rampant. Yet, South Africans relish the idea of being a “rainbow nation.” “At home in South Africa I have sometimes said in big meetings where you have black and white together: ‘Raise your hands!’” Bishop Desmond Tutu, a social-rights activist once said. “Then I have said: ‘Move your hands,’ and I’ve said ‘Look at your hands—different colors representing different peo- ple. You are the Rainbow People of God.’”

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INTRODUCTION