September 6
The university fee protests have brought the politics of the
past back to the forefront of the discourse in South Africa. Twenty-two years
after the end of apartheid, it is clear that not all that much has changed on a
structural level in regards to racial equality. This article from the
Washington Post on Sunday is reporting about an incident at a high school in
Pretoria in which protests were sparked over reports of discrimination against
black girls (regarding the styling of their hair) and discouraging the use of
African languages. As images and videos of the demonstrations spread, the
protests at Pretoria High School adopted the hashtag #StopRacismatPretoriaGirlsHigh
and schools in other parts of the country where similar reports were made
joined in. This instance shows two very important things: first that racism and
discrimination against people of color is still very much a reality in South
African school systems; and secondly, social media is an effective means for
sharing reports of such discrimination and bringing people together in
opposition. The girls at Pretoria High were forced to abide by certain rules
that require them to, in some cases, use chemicals to straighten their hair. In
other words, they are being asked to be less African and more white. As the
students demonstrated, it became clear that their protests were about much more
than hair, just as the university protests are about much more than tuition
increases. There are deeper structural problems perpetuating racial
discrimination in South African classrooms, and protests like this one in
Pretoria are crucial for shedding light on these issues.
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