Mandela once told a story to a reporter to explain the difference between the English in South Africa and the Afrikaner, one he said had been passed down by his elders. If a black man came to the door of an English family and asked for food, Mandela said, the woman of the house might invite him in and then give him a slice of toast so thin “the sun could shine through it” and a weak cup of tea. But if he went to the home of an Afrikaner instead, the woman of the house would shout at him for trying to come in through the front door, and tell him to meet her in the back. She would never invite
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