How I propose we should train our dragon

My south african "village" has been plagued by a specific problem for ages. The problem of living together with those "we" perceive as the "other". The solution that was found eventually was apartheid, a regime of separate development. For various reasons this turned out to be a bad solution which gave a small part of the populations huge advantages and the rest a really raw deal. Worst of all, it alienated whites and blacks from each other. Both had (and has) so much to teach and give the other.

This alienation made us think that the enemy is blacks or whites, hiding the fact that a much greater enemies lurked in a cave and ate away at our potential. enemies such as racism, poverty, corruption, unequal education. Luckily a few leaders realised that this solution in fact solves very little and will eventually cause more problems than it create. So apartheid fell structurally and we all were in awe of "Madiba Magic" back then. Problem is it only fell structurally for many people. The generation before mine somehow decided to keep at the old apartheid solution in practise and only where it is absolutely required by law, reach out to the other. To many people kept on fighting the dragons instead of collaborating with them and in so doing unleash the potential of this country and tackling the real enemies.

So I propose a different approach. My generation must go out of their way to built relationships with every kind of "other" we can imagine. We must approach them not as masters (like the boy did in the movie) but as equals, as people than not only could be helped and learned by us but also as people that have much help to offer and much to teach us. We must stop the nonsense of insisting to worship separate and in our own language and realise that even Jesus didn't preach in His mother tongue. We must do everything in our power to reconcile with those we perceive to be others, even if it cost us a arm and a leg. Reconciliation simply won't happen without sacrifice. Older generations will not understand our approach. They will keep scaring us with warnings not to trust the other because they are "dangerous". However in the end they will come to realise that our solution works much better than theirs and be proud to call us their sons and daughters once more. And that is how I think we should train our dragon!