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Daughter of Apartheid
A black woman who suffered the outrages of apartheid - including the murder of her father - shares her outlook on her struggles with humanity and forgiveness.
"Lindi Tardif tells an awesome story of breaking the mental chains of racist apartheid and building a life of freedom and meaning. 'Inspirational' is an overused word, but in this case it's the best way to describe her book."
-- Benjamin Pogrund
Recipient of the National Order of Ikhamanga in Silver; author of books about Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe, Nelson Mandela, the Press under apartheid, and Israel and apartheid; and former Deputy Editor, Rand Daily Mail, Johannesburg.
"Lindi's account of the evils of racism is moving and her comments on the way forward are compelling though I would implore us to keep in mind that we were created by God as one human race and that seeing ourselves as separate races keeps us trapped in the deception of racism."
-- Evangelist Alveda King
American activist; author of several books including King 21 Keys To Unlocking Your Spiritual Potential, America Return To God; and Executive Director, Civil Rights for the Unborn with Priests for Life.
"Lindi Tardif tells an awesome story of breaking the mental chains of racist apartheid and building a life of freedom and meaning. 'Inspirational' is an overused word, but in this case it's the best way to describe her book."
-- Benjamin Pogrund
Recipient of the National Order of Ikhamanga in Silver; author of books about Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe, Nelson Mandela, the Press under apartheid, and Israel and apartheid; and former Deputy Editor, Rand Daily Mail, Johannesburg.
"Lindi's account of the evils of racism is moving and her comments on the way forward are compelling though I would implore us to keep in mind that we were created by God as one human race and that seeing ourselves as separate races keeps us trapped in the deception of racism."
-- Evangelist Alveda King
American activist; author of several books including King 21 Keys To Unlocking Your Spiritual Potential, America Return To God; and Executive Director, Civil Rights for the Unborn with Priests for Life.
132 pages, Paperback
Published July 2, 2019
7 people are currently reading
13 people want to read
About the author
Lindi Tardif
2 books2 followersLindi Tardif is an author, tech startup founder, board member, and an international tax lawyer with extensive experience in the corporate world with blue chip companies, including a Big Tech one. Lindi’s diverse career has led her across the globe, from Johannesburg and London to Boston and Seattle. Lindi earned a Master of Laws in taxation degree from Boston University, as well as Bachelor of Commerce, Bachelor of Laws, and Master of Laws in taxation degrees from Wits University.
Lindi was born in Soweto, South Africa, where she lived under apartheid for twenty years. She is a third-generation activist and second-generation lawyer and writer. Her dad, a civil rights attorney, was murdered under the apartheid regime and her paternal granddad, an anti-apartheid activist and writer, spent over two decades in exile from South Africa under apartheid. Her mom, an attorney, and grand mom taught her the importance of making good lifestyle choices.
Lindi’s upbringing shaped her views on equality and inculcated a drive to break down norms rooted in discrimination. It also cultivated a passion to help youngsters develop empowering beliefs and make choices that will put their lives on an upward trajectory. Lindi currently lives on Mercer Island, Washington, with her kids.
Lindi was born in Soweto, South Africa, where she lived under apartheid for twenty years. She is a third-generation activist and second-generation lawyer and writer. Her dad, a civil rights attorney, was murdered under the apartheid regime and her paternal granddad, an anti-apartheid activist and writer, spent over two decades in exile from South Africa under apartheid. Her mom, an attorney, and grand mom taught her the importance of making good lifestyle choices.
Lindi’s upbringing shaped her views on equality and inculcated a drive to break down norms rooted in discrimination. It also cultivated a passion to help youngsters develop empowering beliefs and make choices that will put their lives on an upward trajectory. Lindi currently lives on Mercer Island, Washington, with her kids.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 30, 2022
Apartheid was a regime that intentionally caused division amongst the people of South Africa that persists even today, twenty-eight years since the democratic dispensation. In the later years of apartheid, the resistance turned quite violent. There was the majority on one side that was fed up, so they took to arms to fight back, and on the other hand, there was a division in that majority that couldn’t agree on how the reconciliation should be realised. As soon as the 1994 elections, that was when the “Rainbow Nation” slogan was coined to unite the deeply divided nation in its diversity.
In A DAUGHTER OF APARTHEID, it is unclear whether the author, Lindi Tardif, welcomes or rejects rainbowism. I can say she welcomes it because of how she talks about forgiveness. Lindi first starts by opening up about how it was like living in Soweto in the early 80s when the Struggle was in its prime and resistance was rife and violent. She talks about how it was like living in a small house, where no one was afforded the privilege of privacy, and then about the township that was populated with jackrollers who tormented everyone, especially women and young girls. She talks about her experience going to the multi-racial private school that embraced integration when it was not fashionable to, about how it welcomed her and made her tap into her full potential. She includes her family’s history and its role in the Struggle.
Throughout the book, Lindi made sure to let it be known that it wasn’t only Black people who were fighting against the regime, but White people too, which is true. She did this by showing how her school admin used to help hide wanted political figures on their school grounds and how they even fought, directly and indirectly, with the government about their integration. When she disagreed about the school boycotts and the disruption of learning at Wits, she had her Blackness put into question. She wasn’t the only one, though, whose race was put into question simply because she didn’t toe the line as expected of her because of her race. Pauline and Nic, an interracial couple, were also victims of the very same thing too.
I disliked the fact that in trying to reconcile, she urged people not to see colour. This is problematic because it promotes erasure. When you don’t see the skin colour of Black people or of any race, then you don’t see those people. You erase the part of who they are.
There are a lot of things that she said at the end of the book that made me furrow my brows, like: “…new racism is never the cure for past racism, and new economic oppression is never the solution to past economic oppression.” What’s new racism? And by “new economic oppression,” does she refer to the economic policies that try to empower the people who were disenfranchised in the past, like South Africa’s B-BBEE?
The author insinuated that systemic racism and White privilege don’t exist. She urged us to refuse the demands that were made by the co-founder of The Black Lives Matter because they are “ludicrous” and believes won’t move us forward as Black people. In my observation, I realised that the author seemed to be in disagreement with every strategy that Black activists came up with. It was like she didn’t see the need for radical and urgent changes in these racist, historically-White institutions. The comparison between the Asian community and African-American community was frankly in bad taste. I don’t want to expand on it because it will force us to tap into Oppression Olympics, which we should always try not to.
Lastly, I hate what she said about forgiveness. She said: “It is also important to keep in mind that forgiveness is not earned but it is given and that is not always a once-off act. Sometimes, especially when wounds run deep, one needs to return to the well of forgiveness and draw from its depth, day after day, until the bitterness in one’s heart has been washed away.” I hate this because all the hard labour is given to the victim, not the perpetrator. It’s the victim who should draw from the well as if they are to be blamed for the wrong that was done unto them. This also shames the victim. Whenever a victim stands up for their rights, they are viewed and even painted as bitter, as if there is anything wrong with that. The attention is shifted from the perpetrator to the victim. In many ways, this is problematic because the victim will spend twice the energy, proving that they are not bitter and fighting for what’s right. It’s exhausting.
In A DAUGHTER OF APARTHEID, it is unclear whether the author, Lindi Tardif, welcomes or rejects rainbowism. I can say she welcomes it because of how she talks about forgiveness. Lindi first starts by opening up about how it was like living in Soweto in the early 80s when the Struggle was in its prime and resistance was rife and violent. She talks about how it was like living in a small house, where no one was afforded the privilege of privacy, and then about the township that was populated with jackrollers who tormented everyone, especially women and young girls. She talks about her experience going to the multi-racial private school that embraced integration when it was not fashionable to, about how it welcomed her and made her tap into her full potential. She includes her family’s history and its role in the Struggle.
Throughout the book, Lindi made sure to let it be known that it wasn’t only Black people who were fighting against the regime, but White people too, which is true. She did this by showing how her school admin used to help hide wanted political figures on their school grounds and how they even fought, directly and indirectly, with the government about their integration. When she disagreed about the school boycotts and the disruption of learning at Wits, she had her Blackness put into question. She wasn’t the only one, though, whose race was put into question simply because she didn’t toe the line as expected of her because of her race. Pauline and Nic, an interracial couple, were also victims of the very same thing too.
I disliked the fact that in trying to reconcile, she urged people not to see colour. This is problematic because it promotes erasure. When you don’t see the skin colour of Black people or of any race, then you don’t see those people. You erase the part of who they are.
There are a lot of things that she said at the end of the book that made me furrow my brows, like: “…new racism is never the cure for past racism, and new economic oppression is never the solution to past economic oppression.” What’s new racism? And by “new economic oppression,” does she refer to the economic policies that try to empower the people who were disenfranchised in the past, like South Africa’s B-BBEE?
The author insinuated that systemic racism and White privilege don’t exist. She urged us to refuse the demands that were made by the co-founder of The Black Lives Matter because they are “ludicrous” and believes won’t move us forward as Black people. In my observation, I realised that the author seemed to be in disagreement with every strategy that Black activists came up with. It was like she didn’t see the need for radical and urgent changes in these racist, historically-White institutions. The comparison between the Asian community and African-American community was frankly in bad taste. I don’t want to expand on it because it will force us to tap into Oppression Olympics, which we should always try not to.
Lastly, I hate what she said about forgiveness. She said: “It is also important to keep in mind that forgiveness is not earned but it is given and that is not always a once-off act. Sometimes, especially when wounds run deep, one needs to return to the well of forgiveness and draw from its depth, day after day, until the bitterness in one’s heart has been washed away.” I hate this because all the hard labour is given to the victim, not the perpetrator. It’s the victim who should draw from the well as if they are to be blamed for the wrong that was done unto them. This also shames the victim. Whenever a victim stands up for their rights, they are viewed and even painted as bitter, as if there is anything wrong with that. The attention is shifted from the perpetrator to the victim. In many ways, this is problematic because the victim will spend twice the energy, proving that they are not bitter and fighting for what’s right. It’s exhausting.
April 12, 2020
Apartheid was bad and evil and people lost their lives. Its effects are still present.
How the book had a profound effect for me personally and parts I had to highlight in yellow on kindle. You know when i read a book I always ask what can I learn, that's me. My yellow highlights are:
1. Decision making and choices ie I messed my life up and Gods grace came. Now I have learned to make better decisions in my life now.
2. “Let Your Choices Reflect Your Hopes and Not Your Fears” please read that part....
3. Overcoming obstacles , about plans make for preparations (ie sometimes plans don't work)
4.Develop positive vision in the future.
5. Reviving my Christian life I am also now starting to think about the consequences carefully , i knew about this principle but reminded me. Even when I discipline kids now, I do the same.
6. The story of John Langa reminds me of the early church in book of Acts, selfless attitude, sharing the burden. It chastised me because I have been focusing too much on me and my pain.
7. Forget about hatred, forget about revenge. Learn forgiveness and you will be healed.
8. DON'T FEAR it will hold you back!!
How the book had a profound effect for me personally and parts I had to highlight in yellow on kindle. You know when i read a book I always ask what can I learn, that's me. My yellow highlights are:
1. Decision making and choices ie I messed my life up and Gods grace came. Now I have learned to make better decisions in my life now.
2. “Let Your Choices Reflect Your Hopes and Not Your Fears” please read that part....
3. Overcoming obstacles , about plans make for preparations (ie sometimes plans don't work)
4.Develop positive vision in the future.
5. Reviving my Christian life I am also now starting to think about the consequences carefully , i knew about this principle but reminded me. Even when I discipline kids now, I do the same.
6. The story of John Langa reminds me of the early church in book of Acts, selfless attitude, sharing the burden. It chastised me because I have been focusing too much on me and my pain.
7. Forget about hatred, forget about revenge. Learn forgiveness and you will be healed.
8. DON'T FEAR it will hold you back!!
March 25, 2020
After reading Desmond Tutu's book on South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, I've been really interested in knowing more about what South Africa was like before, during, and after that process. I had the privilege of meeting this author in person, and after hearing that she had written a memoir of her experiences during the fall of apartheid, I was eager to read it. Her story is beautifully written and opened a window for me into several different spheres of life under and after apartheid. I appreciate how her experiences have informed her views on lots of different issues. While I might not agree with all of her conclusions, her perspective has helped me to have a more nuanced understanding of my own points of view.
September 18, 2020
Lindi's personal story is written with such interesting detail, clarity, and vulnerability. I was immediately drawn in to her life experiences growing up in South Africa, continually surprised by what she has seen and endured in her young life. However, with her heart of forgiveness and understanding, Lindi somehow manages to tell her difficult story with a spirit of hopefulness and optimism--teaching her readers about "ubuntu," helping us face our mutual humanity and our ultimate bond with each other. I was shocked, encouraged, and forever challenged!
February 1, 2020
Great read. A fresh personal account of one of the most inhumane systems in the world - apartheid.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews