Adriaan Vlok was minister of law and order in South Africa during the apartheid years. As the New Republic<\/em> reports, he is making amends in a dramatic way. He recently visited one of his victims, Frank Chikane, a black minister:<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019d written it on the front flyleaf of a Bible. It read: \u2018I HAVE SINNED AGAINST THE LORD AND AGAINST YOU! WILL YOU FORGIVE ME?\u2019 Silently, he handed the Bible to Chikane, pulled a rag and bowl out of his briefcase, slid off the chair onto his knees, and bowed his head. Finally, stutteringly, he asked Chikane, \u2018Frank, please, would you allow me to wash your feet?\u2019 Chikane sat back in his chair, and in his confusion, he laughed. \u2018But why would you want to do that?\u2019 \u2018I must humble myself before you,\u2019 Vlok murmured. \u2018For what we did, what we were trying to do.\u2019 Chikane\u2019s grin vanished. \u2018I can see you are really serious,\u2019 he said. He leaned forward in his chair, removed his shoes, and peeled off his black socks. With a quivering hand, Vlok took a glass of water off Chikane\u2019s desk, poured it into the basin, sprinkled it onto Chikane\u2019s naked toes, and dried them carefully with the rag. And then both men dissolved into tears.\u201d<\/p>\n Vlok\u2019s apologies aren\u2019t universally admired by either blacks or whites in South Africa. Whatever the politics, the act has had a revolutionary effect on Vlok himself: \u201c\u2018I regarded myself as better than black people,\u2019 he told me. \u2018More intelligent. I work harder. I thought to myself all the time: I am better than you. And it is wrong!\u2019 he continued. \u2018It is not so! I saw that I\u2019m not better than they are. \u2026 I started looking at black people through different eyes, because feet-washing put me in the place of the slave.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Adriaan Vlok was minister of law and order in South Africa during the apartheid years. As the New Republic reports, he is making amends in a dramatic way. He recently visited one of his victims, Frank Chikane, a black minister: \u201cHe\u2019d written it on the front flyleaf of a Bible. It read: \u2018I HAVE SINNED […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3021,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[768,868],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16211","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reconciliation","category-south-africa"],"yoast_head":"\n