Unit 3

Introduction

This Unit is about the concept of inequality. Through the unit we are going to work on getting a good understanding of what inequality means, find examples of inequality, and study some literature and history that helps us understand the concept. Our main case study will be apartheid in South Africa, and we will read literature from this era, which will give us insight into how the apartheid system affected the lives of individuals and groups. We will also study the history of South Africa during apartheid, and enquire into how people fought for their right and for equality. A large section of this unit will be spent on reading and discussing the book Born a Crime by Trevor Noah. As the title indicates, his existence was the result of a crime during apartheid. His book is a humorous account of how it was for him to grow up in South Africa. The skills we will focus on during this unit are literary analysis, reading skills and oral communication.

The Concept of Inequality

In a lecture in honor of Nelson Mandela in 2020, the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said the following:

[The pandemic] is exposing fallacies and falsehoods everywhere:

The lie that free markets can deliver healthcare for all;

The fiction that unpaid care work is not work;

The delusion that we live in a post-racist world;

The myth that we are all in the same boat.

Because while we are all floating on the same sea, it’s clear that some are in superyachts while others are clinging to drifting debris.

Dear friends,

Inequality defines our time.

(Guterres, 2020)

To Do

Bibliography

BBC. (2015, April 3). The Sophiatown Removals . Retrieved from BBC Radio 4 : https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/ b05p9w83

InThinking History. (n.d. ). Nature and Characteristics of Discrimination. Retrieved from InThinking: https://www.thinkib.net/history/page /44454/1-nature-and-characteristics-of-discrimination

Noah, T. (2016 ). Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood . London: John Murray.

South African Government. (n.d.). History. Retrieved from South African Government: https://www.gov.za/about-sa/history

South African History Online. (N.D. ). Sophiatown. Retrieved from South African History Online: https://www.sahistory.org.za/place/ sophiatown