Are our schools afraid of the racism conversation?
23 May 2016
ALMOST every week that goes by produces a racist incident that makes headlines in South Africa and often around the world. And as is human nature, we become increasingly immune to these incidents as we become more accustomed to them.
As a public representative, I have to keep reminding myself that these instances require outrage in every instance and that with my role comes a duty to act and correct behaviours and hearts so that we can live in a South Africa that is free from racism, sexism, homophobia and bigotry of any kind.
Just recently, I received a terrible text message that a friend in Port Elizabeth was beaten up with her boyfriend at a bar as they walked in, called kaffirs and left in a pool of their own blood. She will, or likely already has laid charges with the police, and hopefully those responsible will be punished.
Regrettably though, legal processes do not change hearts. Nor do they prevent future incidents of this nature or create a society that embraces all, regardless of skin colour.
As a young South African, I was struck by Nick Mulgrew’s piece in the Mail and Guardian - 5 May 2016 - where he spoke about how he was not surprised by his former classmate, Matthew Theunissen’s racist rantings. This after the latter responded to Sport Minister Mbalula’s decision to ban certain sporting codes from bidding to host major tournaments on the basis that there has not been enough transformation.
Mulgrew , a young white male, who admits to being a person of privilege, educated at a KZN private school, says:
“School taught Matt and I about orgasms and how to avoid contracting HIV, but no one told us what the K-word does to the psyches of black people, or what sexual harassment does to a woman. That was left out, for us to learn – or not learn, blatantly – for ourselves. Maybe if our life orientation teacher, or our history teacher, or our headmaster properly opened up that conversation in our multiracial classroom – instead of surreptitiously avoiding it in the way adults tend to do – Matt wouldn’t have resorted to racism when criticising Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula about his policies”
This reflection took me back to my own high school in Durban North where I took part in my first political action. I, together with a group of black LRC (Learners Representative Council) members and black prefects were unsatisfied with the punishment handed down to a white prefect elect, who called a black junior a “Kaffir bitch” after being frustrated with him for acts of insubordination. The punishment? An apology to all the black students in the school who were rounded up during lunch break. The headmaster felt at the time that this was sufficient.
As members of the LRC, we proceeded to demand that the prefect elect not be inaugurated at the induction ceremony. Failing this, we agreed that we would have mass defiance of the rules at the induction ceremony and that all black prefects would resign. After numerous meetings with the headmaster, governing body and in the school corridors, the school eventually decided to rescind his prefects badge and give both him and the junior community service.
Years later, divorced from the emotions of the incident, the lessons taken from it are well expressed by Mulgrew. I went to a diverse school, one where a high degree of racial sensitivity and understanding should organically occur. Yet it does not.
While learners made friends with each other, they often still migrated into their own racial groups particularly during social time. There was also never a deliberate attempt to talk about our racial prejudices. In in fact it only played out when public policy around former Minister Makhenkesi Stofile’s sports quotas was passed around – unsurprisingly in similar fashion to how Theunissen’s bigotries were spewed.
This brings me to the question – are our schools afraid of the racism conversation?
Are they concerned that it may offend some? Are some of our teachers out of their depth when it comes to discussing personal social issues? Or are schools just too scared to wade into the murky waters of the “race debate” at school which may lead to further polarisation and difficult discussions?
While these concerns may be legitimate to a point, the fact remains that a society that embraces all must be embedded in young children at school, away from any possible bigotry that they may be exposed to at home. I would argue that the issue of racism must be incorporated into Life Orientation curriculums. There is no more sustainable platform than in a school, with the exception of a functional family home in which to instil a core set of values in a lasting way.
This is also why diversifying our schools, particularly our elite private and model C schools is so important. That child of the domestic worker should be given the opportunity to shatter the socio-economic barriers which continue to divide our worlds, as well as shatter the glass – albeit it tinted – ceiling.
The children at these schools will go off to the best universities and corporates, where they will have the opportunity to redress work and social spaces. Those who are Black learners would go even further by lifting their extended family out of poverty, something known as black tax, an added burden of the black child.
Without the introduction of deliberate discussions in schools and formal efforts for the poorest children to get into the best schools, we risk wasting another school cycle of learners who could be the change agents to our openly bigoted society.
It is government’s duty to ensure that our schooling system works for all learners. Where the system does not work, a more deliberate effort must be made to lead our society into the one my generation demands.
Hlanganani Gumbi, MPL is the youngest member of the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature at 26 years. He is a former eThekwini Councillor and currently serves on the province’s Sport and Recreation and Human Settlement portfolio committees. He is also a Mandela Washington Fellow.
