“Try walking a mile in my shoes.”
That’s a statement we often hear from someone who generally is having a difficult time, whether that time is something professionally or personally.
Recently a white South African family walked a mile, or rather spent a month in their Black housekeeper’s shoes. The middle-class Hewitt family comprised of mom, dad and their 2-year-old and 4-year-old daughters spent a month living in a 100-square foot “shack” next door to their housekeeper in the densely-populated “slum” of Mamelodi.
The family’s patriarch said their actions were simply to “change” themselves. Part of that change was for them to gain a better understanding of the plight of the poor. They were doing an experiment in radical empathy.
The Hewitts left their comfortable gated community and took only a few changes of clothes and some pots and blankets. Their daughters could not bring any toys and were allowed to share one book. Since the Hewitts’ new home had no running water the family took bucket baths and shared a latrine with neighbors. Each night the family slept together on a thin mattress.
“Like so many people in South Africa, we live in a bubble,” said wife Ena. “We wanted to get outside that bubble.”
In doing so, the Hewitts have encountered some praise and a lot of criticism across the globe.
I personally believe their actions were noble, but I also think their goal of increased empathy would have been better fulfilled had they completed this experiment when the children were a bit older. The impact such an experiment can have on a 2-year-old and 4-year-old is minimal, but it could be monumental to a teenager.
Some people weren’t as balanced as I am with their opinion of the Hewitts.
One blogger said the Hewitts are “white slum tourists who gawk at Black poverty. This is simply a publicity stunt aimed at getting a book or movie deal – or worse still, a reality television show.”
Osiame Molefe, who is currently working on a book about race relations in South Africa, said “the Hewitts’ empathy project is a performance of the privilege of being relatively wealthy and white. They have sought out, won and accepted sympathy and praise for living the hardships others experience daily without receiving the commensurate plaudits.”
Some critics feel the Hewitts’ actions made a mockery of the way poor people live, thus exploiting them. Based on everything I’ve read about the Hewitts actions and even their video diaries, I believe the family was sincere with their intent … they truly wanted to better themselves and become more empathic by actually placing themselves in subpar conditions for a month.
That’s a heck of a lot more than most people would ever do.
So what now?
What will the Hewitts do now that the experiment is over?
The father, Julian Hewitt, said from the beginning that the experiment was for them to gain a better understanding, but I wonder if they feel a sense of obligation to do something more, something that extends beyond their familial circle and makes an even greater impact that can actually help the poor in South Africa.
How could the Hewitts be exposed to such deprivation, yet not do anything to help the deprived?
Is it even fair to expect them to do anything other than what they originally sought to do, which was make them more empathic?
The truth is, even if the Hewitts never do anything further regarding their experiment, they’ve already done a lot by fostering dialogue and getting millions of people, including yours truly, engaged in a very important and meaningful conversation about the economic divide between South Africa and the rest of the world’s have and have nots.
Perhaps the question isn’t what the Hewitts can do for the poor, but what we all can do for the less fortunate.
Empathy is great and will certainly put us on the path, but actually doing things to conquer the challenges will complete the journey.
You can email comments to Shannon Williams at Shannonw@indyrecorder.com.
