Aaisha’s Ramadaan diaries, Day 7: on bigotry
Day 7 The Quranic verse 17:37, وَلَا تَمْشِ فِي الْأَرْضِ مَرَحًا ۖ إِنَّكَ لَن تَخْرِقَ الْأَرْضَ وَلَن تَبْلُغَ الْجِبَالَ طُولًا roughly translates to, “Do not walk proudly on the earth; your feet...
View ArticleClik here to view.
So, what’s the best way to teach children about the history of the dompas?
A private school in Johannesburg has clarified accusations that it had forced black students to carry a dompas as part of a school project. Nandi Ngwenya, a graduate of Johannesburg St Mary’s School,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Arundhati Roy on writing, fighting and… anti-blackness?
On 1 July, ELLE India featured the extraordinary author Arundhati Roy as the cover woman of the magazine’s July issue, in which she was interviewed on her writing, exercise habits and first new novel...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Why South African Indians should identify as black
INDIRA GOVENDER reflects on whether you need to display “struggle credentials” before you can speak on racism and injustice in South Africa. Mishka Wazar’s column about whether or not Indians can or...
View ArticleClik here to view.
#BlackLivesMatter: How do you call for help when the “help” is murdering you?
SAMUEL AVILÉS writes from New York, where the #BlackLivesMatter protests have almost become a routine following the revelations of the deaths of black men by police. People are tired, he says, tired...
View ArticleFor Eldos to progress we must first let go of this idea that we are better...
The line separating Eldos from Kliptown and Soweto is as inconsistent as its electrical supply and water connections. But there’s a definite boundary when it comes to the politics. Old Eldos is a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Am I guilty? On being rich, white and male in South Africa
JOB THOMAS believes it’s time for people like himself – rich, white men – and other privileged groups, to admit to being oppressors. In Belgium, I grew up while my parents were making minimum wage....
View Article“I am a 40-year-old woman and embarrassed to have voted for the DA today”
She did it again. No sooner had the polls closed than Helen Zille dumped the DA straight into the line of fire. It started with Zille tweeting about a group of students who described the UCT “as our...
View ArticleThe DA is not an alternative to the ANC
Wandile Ngcaweni feels the DA is the vanguard of white privilege in South Africa, and is not a viable alternative to the ANC. The rise of the Democratic Alliance (DA), as an encampment of white...
View ArticlePE high school is the latest hit by accusations of racism
It was just yesterday that an investigation was launched at a girls school following allegations of racism and prejudice by the school and its staff against pupils. Education MEC to probe high school...
View Article#DecoloniseSchooling: we need to talk about the violence “elite” schools...
#StopRacismAtPretoriaGirlsHigh has reopened a can of worms for many of us who attended private and ex-model C schools. If I’m honest, this was likely inevitable. The violence of colonial schooling, in...
View ArticleAcademic excellence, discrimination and assimilation are the goals at this...
All over South Africa, young black people are finding their voice and realising that they’ve been putting up with a racist colonial system for far too long, and, actually, they can fight it. It is...
View ArticleClik here to view.
From birds’ nests to being told to fix afros – people open up about racism in...
What happened at Pretoria High School for Girls is but an example of the lived experiences of discrimination against African hair in schools. But it’s not just about school rules. It’s about how you...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The double-edged sword that is proximity to whiteness
ZUKISWA PIKOLI believes that the protests that broke out over hair policies and racism in schools are a continuation of the years of unexpressed trauma that many other black children went through as...
View ArticleClik here to view.
It’s time for ex-Model C schools to stop focusing on rugby and start focusing...
LAURENCE STEWART says that a tragedy continues to be played out in the name of tradition and value at the stubborn ex-Model C schools which continue to perpetuate violent sub-cultures that are racist,...
View ArticleBlack students are still a long, long way from being free at places like...
MALAIKA EYOH, a grade 12 student at Pretoria High School for Girls, points out that while the media attention following protests at the school has forced scrutiny on school policies, we are still a...
View ArticleThe problem is not the students, but the Mantashes, Benatars, Habibs and...
Last week, in the midst of student protests for free and decolonised education at most of South Africa’s universities, Professor David Benatar, HOD of the UCT Philosophy department, criticised his...
View ArticleThe grand delusions of a UCT Law Dean: Penny Andrews equals indirect rule
A group of concerned black law students and alumni at UCT has released a statement regarding the UCT Law faculty’s attitude towards protests and securitisation of campus. In the reawakening of the...
View ArticleThe complexities of borrowed privilege
Gosiame Legoale says that those who live in close proximity to privilege need to interrogate their behaviours. Proximity to privilege comes with complimentary blinkers and I’m from a class that gladly...
View ArticleAn open letter to Stellenbosch University lecturers
Stellenbosch University student Farai Mubaiwa has some questions for her lecturers. I remember sitting in class on my first day of first year looking at my lecturers in awe. I saw you as individuals...
View Article