Publications
Partners
With the current focus on institutional racism at UCT (and other universities), along with a recent debate with some passionate #Rhodesmustfall activists, I decided to google "Institutional Racism at UCT" to gain insights into the issue at hand. This is what I've uncovered.
* note that cherry-picking content according to personal bias is highly probable
Let's start:
"...Chumani Maxwele argued, ‘for us poo – as a political statement and a strategic position – is precisely about our shame as black students. We feel a shame. And that shame is that our parents where we come from Khayelitsha, Langa, Nyanda, Gugulethu, and the other rural areas, they still use the bucket system 21 years after democracy… you ask yourself then how do you return that shame or transcend such a shame?… what is it I can do to change this? To bring this to the ivory towers? To the affluent? [So that they can] see [what] the city that they belong to – the city that they love so much – … does to other people. For me, as a black person, all I am doing [is] bringing my shame to this university [and] to my friends – my white friends, my black friends – [so that they can] see my shame and see my reality… my shame, my brother’s shame, my sister’s shame, my mother’s shame. I want it to be a collective shame’"...
My observation: Is this the reason for the protests and the #Rhodesmustfall movement? I think that Maxwele is referring to transformation from an economic perspective. I.e. poverty alleviation,, unemployment, etc. I don't think that this proves that institutional racism exists at UCT per say. Shouldn't he be giving President Zuma the middle finger for this one? (Oh, he already did that and got roughed up...)
Next one....
"...However, while these selection procedures can successfully recruit many black students, there are still so many more strong white applicants than there are strong black applicants that we would not achieve adequate transformation of the class without a further explicit, racially-based selection mechanism.
"....Thus the university’s new admissions policy is a hybrid procedure using three mechanisms for selection: one part of the class selected just on marks; a second component selected based on performance and ability, which takes account of school and home background; and a third component driven by achieving demographic targets based on an applicant's race and performance..."
My observation: So this did make more sense to me. It talks about the UCT admissions policy being amended to assist with transformation: However, surely this also points to the need to improve the quality of schooling (e.g. text books would be nice, qualified teachers, etc.)? Better schooling for black kids will surely result in more admissions into UCT, or am I wrong? I don't think that this proves that institutional racism exists at UCT, rather that we need to focus on improving the quality of education at schools.
Next one...reminder that we're still searching for proof of institutional racism at UCT:
"... Institutional racism also works to silence and marginalise students and staff who do make it through the door. Maxwele argues that he and other black students feel under constant pressure ‘to look white, act white, speak white’, or to remain silent. Another student, who was involved in protests at Rhodes University, echoed this perspective, claiming that her university was primarily concerned with ‘making whiteness feel comfortable’ in ways that ‘promot[ed] structural violence against people who look like me: people who occupy and embody what it means to be black’. Whereas the university should be a space of diversity and inclusion, she argued that institutional racism was pervasive, and white staff and students were not forced to ‘account for the ways in which institutional culture protects them – it creates a safety net for them in ways that does not exist for people who look like me’..."
My observation: Is this really happening at UCT and other universities? Are white students and/or lecturers forcing blacks to "dress, act and speak like whites, or remain silent"? If this is the case, then should we not be protesting against snotty racist students and/or lecturers? Can someone help me understand how this is being enforced. E.g. dirty looks if you speak Xhosa or talk too loudly or you have rhythm? I find it ironic that Maxwele, who famously "zapped" the blue light brigade, feels that he is being forced to act and dress like a white person. He doesn't strike me as the kind of person that cares what others think. I definitely don't think that this is evidence of institutional racism exists at UCT.
This one relates to funding...
"...She informed us of the processes relevant to us in assisting students with Fin Aid issues. The one thing she said to us that stuck with me, was that “as long as you apply for assistance in time, we, and the University will do whatever it takes to assure you’re assisted,” something along those lines, and all members of SRC at the time can attest to that, even todays members can I’m sure......A few weeks later my parents were told to pay at least half the debt and we can be considered to continue studying; they struggled but managed to get it done by the grace of God, with help from family members, but absolutely nothing was done. .........Again, these words are no net for a sympathetic response – merely bringing the deeper layers of this institutional racism everyone thinks they know well to surface. Before I got stuck into the aforementioned stories I said Financial exclusion is the new black problem; because as far as I’ve seen from my official capacity as a SRC member, and general member of society – it only affects black students. That’s why I urge, beg and in fact, insist, that we look to practical SOLUTIONS to institutional racism, and not once-off awareness raising gimmicks when we’re all aware enough..."
My observation: The lack of funding is blamed on "institutional racism". Is it not possible that processes were followed, which are there for a reason. Surely UCT cannot assist every single under-privileged student with finance? I'm not convinced that this proves that institutional racism exists at UCT. Sounds more like a financial issue to me, or a lack of Government funding to help drive transformation.
Last one. The curriculum seems to be at fault and will not be changed due to "white privilege"....:
"...This is just in terms of numbers – we haven’t spoken about the content. So, the curriculum: what is the content students are being taught? You might have a lot of black students and a lot of black staff, and the curriculum still has a colonial outlook to it, which does not change things, because it doesn’t change the mind. I don’t think at any of those levels UCT is making any progress, nor is it interested in doing so...whenever anybody challenges UCT on those terms, there is some kind of rebuttal. It makes me ask: what are you protecting? I can’t help but conclude that it is white privilege. This nonsense about UCT being the top-ranked university in Africa: I don’t care when black students do not have access to it; and, if they do, what they’re being taught is not a curriculum that resonates with their experiences...."
My observation: So the curriculum may have a colonial outlook to it, which Africans cannot necessarily relate to. If the curriculum is not meeting the needs of black students, then what changes need to happen? I honestly don't understand. Should the curriculum be taught in a different language, or by a blacker lecturer, or with with different content that is more suitable for Africa? Or perhaps government should build Nkandla v2.0, which will be a university that meets the needs of black students who don't want to study "colonial" content? Is this really institutional racism folks?
In summary, with all the talk about "institutional racism" at UCT, I'm struggling to find proof that it exists, and if it does, that it is the root cause of the issues being raised by those concerned. Feedback welcome...
