Statement on Ongoing Racism in South African Schools
Recent events at Pretoria Girls’ High School and Pinelands High School are indicative of a larger societal problem that we can no longer afford to ignore. The advent of a democratic government did not erase four hundred years of slavery, colonialism and apartheid. The expectation that the “Born Free” generation would be free from the stains of the past was unrealistic, given the wounds inflicted on our society. In addition, we have not dismantled the institutions and systems of oppression (neither racism nor patriarchy) that are imbedded in them. The failure to do this means that we are replicating the very system from which we are trying to move away.
At a societal level, much more needs to be done at the individual, family and community levels to create a non-racial society. Children mimic what they hear and see in their environment, and more needs to be done to ensure that we do not tolerate intolerance and bigotry. This starts at the individual level (becoming aware of our unconscious biases and prejudices) and moves to the family and communal levels (not tolerating racism in our private spaces). We need to hold educational institutions and parents to account for the behaviour of their children. It is not enough to sanction the children and expect them to change.
Besides punitive measures, we also need to follow restorative processes to allow perpetrators to understand the impact of their actions and for victims to be heard and given the opportunity to heal.
We need to ensure that government, and particularly the Department of Education, recognises that these are not isolated incidents, but manifestations of a larger systemic problem. We need to introduce diversity training into the schools, to work with teachers and parents, to create normative standards which do not allow such harmful practices to continue, to allow for difference and to ensure that the dignity of all learners is respected and upheld.
For more information on how to hold conversations on race, please see https://www.ijr.org.za/portfolio-items/brave-conversations-a-guide-for-inclusive-anti-racism-dialogue/?portfolioCats=24%2C21%2C46%2C20%2C22%2C23%2C145
Felicity Harrison
Head of the Sustained Dialogues Programme