The one thing that I have taken away from observing and participating in debates on decolonisation in South Africa is that we have not yet understood or modelled "inter-generational dialogue".Discussions quickly become polarising and each "side" or "generation" loses important perspectives and insights from the other.Recently I was in an audience of more than 100 mostly young black people who sat fidgeting in UCT's Hiddingh Hall as they watched a screening of Khalo Matabane's documentary Nelson Mandela: The Myth and Me.By the time the screening was over most of the audience members were visibly agitated and upset.When I was given the opportunity to express my thoughts, I shared my negative experience of the ways in which the Mandela name is evoked in the post-apartheid era. In particular, I spoke about how, for many of us "born-frees", there is a sense that Mandela was used as a silencing tool for black pain and dissension.Very quickly an older black member of the audience dismisse...
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