In many ways Johannesburg, South Africa, is a radically different place from what it was under apartheid rule. Socially, you see it in the faces of black and white youngsters sitting side-by-side at their school desks, a practice unheard of under the former system of strict racial segregation. Economically, you see it in the corporate edifices of commercial giants now doing business in the city. Since the defeat of apartheid and the lifting of international sanctions, Johannesburg has overtaken other African cities to become the continent's economic powerhouse. Its 8 million inhabitants now account for 9 percent of the economic activity of the entire continent. 　　Meyer Kahn, the head of South African Breweries, believes commercial opportunities in Johannesburg abound for anyone, regardless of race. “The dynamism and the sheer size of the market create all sorts of opportunities for anyone with any initiative,” he explains. But not everyone shares Kahn's sense of optimism. Though South Africa proudly calls itself  “the rainbow nation,” many blacks question the value of political freedom when, for them, economic opportunities lag behind miserably. They argue that three-quarters of the nation's wealth still rests in the hands of whites. Furthermore, in black townships such as Soweto home to nearly a million people, the unemployment rate hovers at a disheartening 70 percent.    Many blacks, seeking to escape the violence of these townships, have fled to safer and formerly all-white-neighborhoods, albeit reluctantly. Kgomotso Modise, a retired advertising executive, is one of them. Though more secure in his new home, he misses his social circle, noting that life in the suburbs can be lonely. “I don't even know my white neighbors, though I’ve lived next to them for two years.” Modise's words reflect the stubbornness of apartheid's legacy. The reality is that, years after the lifting of segregation laws, interaction between the races remains an awkward challenge for many. Perhaps it will take many more generations for old attitudes to die, as black children continue to enter schools once reserved for white students and the races learn to live together in harmony.