Imagine the trajectory of Elon Musk’s life had he been born a Black man in 1970’s South Africa. Where would Black Elon be today?
Elon Musk. Billionaire. Late night TV host. Tech Bro. First (or second) richest man on earth.
I have three things in common with this man—1971, South Africa, California. We were both born in South Africa in the year 1971. I reside in California and so did Musk until he threw a tantrum and moved to Texas — the favored destination for corporate welfare queens.
That is where the similarities end. For, unlike Musk, I was born on the wrong side of the apartheid line in South Africa.
Grand Apartheid
The 1970’s were a tumultuous time in South Africa’s history. It was the era of Grand Apartheid. A system of state-sanctioned racial segregation, enforced against people of color by a brutal police and military complex. It was anything but “separate but equal”. White South Africans were the dominant group with Black South Africans at the very bottom. In the middle of the apartheid sandwich, “Coloureds” (people of mixed race) and Indians, (people of Indian origin taken to South Africa as slaves). These racial classifications determined where you lived, where you went to…
