"Born Free" ? Nah that's a lie !!

"Born Free"? Nah that's a lie

I couldn't help but comment on the ongoing use of the term "Born free" by many South Africans, which in my opinion is nothing but a blatant lie and false hope. 21 years into our new democracy young black South Africans face numerous challenges such as getting quality education, growing up in a white capitalist world, the struggle to get funding for their tertiary education, being given a colonized curriculum, having to encounter racial incidents in all spheres of society, having to go to higher learning institutions which are characterized by a sense of white privilege and not forgetting the daily ongoing struggles of many young black professionals in the workplace today.

The so-called black "Born free" might be born in a politically free society, but are still a very long way from experiencing true economic emancipation compared to their white counterparts. From the moment a black "born free" enters this world, they're already born fighting , they're already born fighting the status quo and the power structure which still exists to uphold white supremacy, they're are born fighting the injustices of institutionalized racism and a lack of transformation in various sectors of our country such as the economy.

The term "born free" is not just a blatant lie but also adds a sense of false hope and forcibly feeds fellow South Africans hogwash by brainwashing them into believing that those born after 1994 are "born free", this is not only a lie and imaginary but very dangerous as well, as its drifts the focus and the attention of the black majority into thinking that they are free.

Now don't get me wrong, South Africa certainly comes a very long way from where it was, but that doesn't mean we should just sugarcoat the struggles facing young black South Africans in 2015. For any young black "born free" growing up in the dusty streets of any township in South Africa, a better future is what he/she would generally want, a better education which would cost him/her money, a chance to go to university of which he/she would have to pay for, a chance to enter the workplace, the opportunity to run a successful business, to have a share in the countries wealth  and eventually make it onto the JSE (which STILL remains very much white) and the opportunity to live in country which is very much transformed.

 Now judging by the lack of transformation in the private sector( which also STILL remains very much white), the lack of black ownership in terms of the countries wealth, land and the economy, the lack of radical transformation  in "our" institutions of higher learning, the lack of radical policies and the use of Neo-liberal policies which have done absolutely nothing to advance the economic emancipation of the "born free", but instead has created a group of elite black bourgeoisies. I now ask my fellow South Africans, are we really "born free"?

Now it's no lie that the term "born free" including that of the "rainbow nation" have indeed been over used, forced onto South Africans and are now beginning to crack as young South Africans today are beginning to scrutinize the societies they live in and are starting to demand answers.

 It would be very unfair to refer to a black South African born after apartheid as a mere "born free", because he/she is constantly reminded of the economic injustices of the past even though he/she might have not physically been there. The very same "born free" generation will soon enter the workplace and quickly realize how they're being under-paid compared to their white counterparts, they'll soon realize that the wealth of the country lies in the hands of minorities, the very same "born free" will soon realize that South Africa is the most unequal country in the world and that the notion of a "born free" is nothing but a false wet dream.

I would rather propose we start using the term "born fighting", which does not only speak for itself but creates a sense of black awareness that there's still a lot to be done in order to fully transform our country economically, so that we can one day have REAL "born frees" who are born into not just a politically free country but economically free societies as well.