It’s pledge time for WV Public Radio, but I’m such the geek that I don’t bother to change the station (I will, however, change the station when Prarie Home Companion comes on. Yetch.)

I’m glad I didn’t change the station, because All Things Considered has been doing a series on Nelson Mandela and South Africa to mark the ten year anniversary of democracy in South Africa.

Today’s segment was Robben Island, which is the island to which the ANC leaders were sent to serve their life prison sentences. But they also talked about what else was going on in the country at the time, and described the student march in Soweto where children marched to protest the fact that they were being required to learn in Afrikaans. Chills went down my spine as the woman being interviewed matter-of-factly described how the police and soldiers fired upon the peacefully demonstrating school children.

I suppose that after nearly thirty years, the horror of the experience would have, perhaps, rubbed off for her, but it was absolutely chilling to me. Yet again I’m confronted with the concept of evil. Apartheid was evil. But were all those who enforced apartheid evil? What about the rest of us? The rest of the world sat by and allowed apartheid to continue. What guilt do we have in this?

And once again, I don’t know the answers. The questions lead only to more questions.

But, if you have the time, and the bandwidth, I’d highly recommend listening.