Soulparking

Sunday, 4 June 2006

So I was walking to the dinner at the V&A Waterfront, I had gotten ahead of Faith and Jasmin when suddenly I saw Jasmin.  Again.  She looked a little taller and was walking next to black guy with a blue baseball cap low around the eyes.  Then I looked closer and noticed it was Dennis Haysbert again. And the woman beside him was not Jasmin – but remarkably similar.  So I spun around and went back to Jasmin and Faith and told them that I had seen President Palmer from 24 again.

So when we sat at the table there was this instant nervous tension there.  And I did what most Cape Town people do – ordered a bottle of red wine.   This was a bottle of the best Stellenbosch had to offer from 2001.

“He is down there,” Jasmin said through the side of her mouth.

Faith looked down the table.  “Yeah he looks like he did on Oprah.”

“I feel like I am in that scene in Empire Strikes Back when Han Solo walks into that dinner with Darth Vader.” I said.

The whole table seemed like naughty children who were trying hard to to be obedient – but the naughtiness was bubbling below the surface. 

Three bottles of red wine later…

The long table was exploding with laughter and conversation.  People were swarming and taking seats around us.  I don’t remember what we were talking about.  But we were discussing the meaning to life, sex, living in South Africa, and what we were going to do for a nightcap.

Jasmin leaned over to me, “You need to go up to Dr. Goodnight and personally thank him.”

And I knew that I did.  This was dinner was to celebrate his trip to Cape Town to co-chair the World Economic Forum.  We also wanted the CEO of our company to feel like he was part of our small, but intimate Cape Town family.  But for some reason I was so nervous.  My fellow expatriate from the UK had just ordered a new bottle of Port.  I poured a glass and drank it quickly.  And at the bottom, I wiped off my mouth with the back of my hand and said, “Yes, let’s do this.”

As I was walking down to him, it seemed the whole table stopped to watch and listen.  And now in front of him, I was introduced to his wife, Ann, who was incredibly sweet.  I had to be careful because I didn’t want the CEO and President of my company to think I was trying to be an “ass-licker” – the South African equivalent to “ass-kisser” in the States.

“I wanted to thank you for the opportunity that this Alabama boy can travel around the world to teach.  To give me the chance to let the world see that Americans are not like the ones that they see on television, the movies, or how the news portrays them.  That all the time I get:  You’re not a typical American. 

“I am quick to say, yes I am.

“I don’t hear a Southern accent,” Dr. Goodnight said with a sideways grin.

“I can put it on if yew want me too.” I said in my best Southern drawl.

He and Ann laughed.

The next day as I was teaching with a massive hangover, I felt my Blackberry vibrate.  Usually I would let it go, but for some reason I looked down to read the email.  It was written from my boss.  The Cape Town office is trying desperately to find a path for this immigrant, me, to find permanent residence in order for me to make my home in South Africa. This email proposed a new plan of attack. 

Just like in the States where immigration is one of the biggest topics in the media.  Almost all Americans say without thinking, “We need to kick those damn immigrants out!”

I respond with thunder, “Hey wait a minute.  What the hell is that?  We are all immigrants in the United States.  And I am in immigrant in South Africa.  And I am not there to steal jobs.  I am there to teach.  I am there to empower the citizens of the great nation of South Africa to become efficient, to make money, and to make their country stronger. 

“And these so called immigrants in the United States are not here to tear down the country.  They are here to make a better life for themselves.  They are doing the jobs that typical Americans usually do not want to do in order to give their children and their children’s children a better life.”

“Well, they refuse to speak our language.” they often reply.

“That’s not true.  Their children speak both languages – Spanish and English.  They are the bridges to both cultures.  And if you want to get mad at somebody – target the cheap ass businesses and corporations who pay undocumented workers below average wages in order to inflate their profits.  And then later these same cheap ass companies point their fingers at the immigrants as the problem.  They are the ones exploiting the ignorance of the citizens of the United States and the desperation of the undocumented workers.  They are the ones fucking us over.

“I agree with Bush on one issue:  give them a path to become residents or citizens.  If you give them a path then they will pay the taxes needed to support the infrastructure – welfare, Social Security, etc.  But if you follow the path that the European Union and the UK and make it increasingly harder for them to become part of your country, they will continue to stream into your country illegally – regardless if you want it or not. 

“So the USA will break from the weight.  You will also see the significant rise in hate groups.  We will be returning back to the 1950s – 1960s. Might as well put a banner over the entrance of the International Arrivals hall of Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport – WE HATE YOU GO HOME!

“We need the return to anti-European sentiment that we had before the start of the Gulf War II.  Let us not follow their lead by polarizing our country to not embrace integration between cultures.   Living in South Africa, my best friends are Muslim, Jew, and Christian.  They are all colors – black, white, coloured, and Indian.  We have learned so much together.  And I don’t know what I would without all of them. 

“And name one great country who hated other cultures – and what greater good have they had on the world?  Oh yeah, one would be Germany.  And they caused the genocide.  Or how about Rwanda?   And they nearly put extinct a race of people.  I can name one presently – Zimbabwe.  And they are currently starving to death due to their hatred.”

My boss wrote he was going to propose to Dr. Goodnight for his meeting with South African President Mbeki – to mention my plight.  What is the path in South Africa for expatriates to become residents?  That if President Mbeki was serious about stopping the brain drain and try to recruit the best from all over the world to come empower South Africa.  There has to be a restructuring of the immigration laws.  Not just for my company – but it is the biggest stumbling block to the economy to South Africa.  If someone wants to invest or start a global business in South Africa – they have to bring in international resources to train up the management and resources.  And a two year work visa is not long enough.

I later found that Dr. Goodnight agreed to discuss this with Mbeki on my behalf.