One thing I love about sports is the role it often plays in bringing people of different races and cultures
together. Sure, there has been plenty of discrimination in sports historically, but the overall impact of sports has been positive. Just look at what's happening in South Africa, where everyone's celebrating the Springboks' 15-6 victory over England in the Rugby World Cup final on Sunday.
Smiles and congratulatory handshakes were the order of the day as office workers, shop assistants and street peddlers returned to their jobs after the Springboks triumphed in Paris.
Newspapers, ranging from the predominantly white-backed Citizen to the largely black-read Sowetan, heralded the unity engulfing the nation as it prepared to welcome the team home.
A huge crowd was expected to greet the players when they arrive at Johannesburg's O.R. Tambo International Airport this afternoon, kicking off several days of festivities, including a nationwide ticker tape parade. [Link]
White, black and brown -- they're all celebrating the victory. The blacks would rather win the soccer World Cup and the browns would rather win the cricket World Cup, but as the old African saying goes, "A World Cup in the hand beats two in the bush."
Although rugby is traditionally dominated by the country's white minority, particularly its Afrikaner community – descendants of the original Dutch and French settlers – the black majority has also been swept up in the fever.
Bars in Soweto, the sprawling black township south of Johannesburg, were packed with fans cheering the 'Boks' with the fervour of true believers. Eateries and bars in the giant Indian community in Durban also swayed with supporters. [Link]
White, black and brown -- united in showing their support, united in shouting, "Another beer please!"
Elsewhere multiracial crowds danced and sang at fan parks in scenes reminiscent of the celebrations that erupted in 1995. Back then, the rugby championship coincided with the honeymoon of the transition to a multiracial democracy after the first free elections in 1994.
"Colour didn't matter. We hugged, cried and kissed across the racial lines. Our collective blood was green," Andrew Molefe, a Sowetan journalist, wrote on Monday after watching the game in a pub in Benoni, a white conservative enclave. [Link]
Color shouldn't matter, especially when you're celebrating a national victory. As one man said, "I'm eager to share my joy with everyone. I don't care whether they're black, white or brown, I'm going to hug and kiss as many women as possible!"
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