Perhaps life had a meaning that transcended race and colour. If it had, I could not find it in South Africa. Peter Abrahams africacolourfind Change image and share on social
Marxism, communism, socialism - the ideologies - did not have the automatic answers to the problem of the relations between the lighter and darker races of mankind. They did not even have an answer to anti-Semitism. Peter Abrahams answerantiautomatic share on social
Most of the black women who lived in the lower end of Vrededorp came from the countryside and were there to be near their menfolk who worked in the mines. They spoke neither English nor Afrikaans. Peter Abrahams afrikaansblackcountryside Change image and share on social
My mother went to work in the homes of white folk, usually living in and looking after their children. The money was small. Peter Abrahams childfolkhome Change image and share on social
There is a qualitative difference between being a minority and being a majority. Majorities are stronger under psychological pressure because numbers count. But only if they are aware of it. Peter Abrahams awarecountdifference Change image and share on social
A man can submit today in order to resist tomorrow. My submission had been such. And because I had not been free to show my real feeling, to voice my true thoughts, my submission had bred bitterness and anger. And there were nearly ten million others who had submitted with equal anger and bitterness. Peter Abrahams angerbitternessbreed share on social
Being born white in South Africa or anywhere in the empire and Commonwealth automatically conferred this special status. You had no problem finding a place to live, a job, trade union membership, access to social services. Being white, speaking English, you were accepted as English, entitled to all the rights of citizenship. Peter Abrahams acceptaccessafrica share on social
For me, personally, life in South Africa had come to an end. I had been lucky in some of the whites I had met. Meeting them had made a straight 'all-blacks-are-good, all-whites-are-bad' attitude impossible. But I had reached a point where the gestures of even my friends among the whites were suspect, so I had to go or be forever lost. Peter Abrahams africaattitudebad share on social
The London I entered was a great bustling metropolitan city at war, an imperial power fighting to hold on to that empire. And the teeming colonial subjects of that empire did not, on the whole, want England to lose that war, but they also did not want the empire to emerge unchanged from it. This, for very many of us, was the hard dilemma. Peter Abrahams bustlecitycolonial share on social
You can't walk alone. Many have given the illusion, but none have really walked alone. Man is not made that way. Each man is bedded in his people, their history, their culture, and their values. Peter Abrahams bedculturehistory Change image and share on social