Racial Distinction shown in Chapter 3

Racial distinction in South Africa is a subject that is lightly touched on. However, through methods of transportation, the differences can be clearly spotted. Kumalo describes them by saying, “all country trains in South Africa are, it was full of black travellers” (13). In other words, African Americans used the trains as their only method of transportation. In the same paragraph, Alan Paton writes, “Europeans of this district all have their cars” (13). Essentially, Europeans were able to afford cars because of the jobs they had. African Americans used trains because of their jobs. Most African American’s jobs were more laborious than European jobs. Examples of jobs they had were carpenter work and working in the mines. These jobs in present time relate to minimum wage jobs. Which means, Africans struggled to buy their own cars due to lack of pay in their jobs while Europeans had no trouble because of their high paying jobs. The struggles Africans face are depicted through Kumalo’s point of view in preparation for his train trip to Johannesburg. He described his family saving up for his son’s departure, however, his family decided to use it on Kumalo. While riding the train, Kumalo noticed people working in the mines, a typical African American job. However, he didn’t notice European people working out in the country. Europeans had jobs in the city, in buildings with a controlled temperature. Therefore Kumalo was able to witness the racial distinction apart from his hometown consisting of a full African American population.