South African Pride

Regarding “A Marketplace of African Authenticity” (by Sheldon Teitelbaum, Aug. 19):

I was dismayed by his reference to Southern California’s “thriving white South African community” who, for “obvious political reasons, have not been asked to attend.”

As a fourth-generation white South African who felt compelled to leave South Africa for “obvious political reasons,” I was deeply saddened by the inference that all white South Africans are collectively and irrevocably guilty and therefore unworthy of sharing in African pride and the celebration of African culture. It is like suggesting that all Ugandans must share the blame for the atrocities and excesses of Idi Amin. If we are to identify all human beings with their rulers there will not be any hope for any of us.

Many white Africans live in the United States in self-imposed exile, away from our families and yearning for our roots just as strongly as black Africans do. I left South Africa because it is a country where “assumptions” (to put it euphemistically) are made on the basis of skin color alone. Will it be the same in the United States?

I hope an effort will be made to reach out to and include white South Africans in the African Marketplace. Believe me, having a white skin does not make me feel any more American, nor, indeed, any less African.

ANN PEACOCK

Los Angeles