Rhodes Rejects Racism. Posters and stickers with this slogan were distributed widely around the university this week, following Vice-Chancellor Dr Saleem Badat’s call for action against racism.
Rhodes Rejects Racism. Posters and stickers with this slogan were distributed widely around the university this week, following Vice-Chancellor Dr Saleem Badat’s call for action against racism.
This was prompted by a racial attack against Journalism and Media Studies Prof Fackson Banda and his family. The Bandas were driving on campus during the Inter-Varisty weekend when a Rhodes student allegedly shouted the epithet "niggers" at them.
Badat was "hugely distressed by this despicable behaviour" and called for a series of activities starting from Monday, 24 August, to promote “human dignity, human rights, equality, non-sexism and non-racialism at Rhodes”. Badat’s statement and anti-racism material were distributed throughout the university and lecturers were asked to discuss it in class.
Prof Jen Snowball was one of the lecturers who heeded the call by handing out copies of the circular to approximately 800 of her students. "Although there wasn’t much discussion, the majority of students listened to the explanation of what had happened," she said. Adrian Visagie, a computer science student said, "Racism is so close minded, it’s not thinking. Campaigns likes this make people aware that racism is there." Visagie was wearing an anti-racism purple ribbon which had been handed out by the Dean of students office.
Prof Alan Kirkaldy issued a statement on behalf of the National Tertiary Education Staff Union (NTESU) condemning racism as well as sexism and homophobia. The statement condemned the "sexist slogans on a number of the overalls worn by Rhodes students" during Inter-Varsity, as well as the alleged homophobic attack which resulted "in a student being stabbed in the neck by a broken bottle". Kirkaldy said that the university has very good policies on racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination "but is sometimes not rigorous in implementing them, perhaps due to the fear of bad publicity." He said that the campaign has been quite well received, but students expressed concerns about the university’s commitment to change.
Prof Banda expressed his appreciation for the support and solidarity and said that the campaign had been well recieved. "This campaign can’t solve the problem of racism but it will help," said Banda. "This is not an isolated incident. Many people suffer from racism and they must be able to report it without feeling that it will be swept under the carpet." He feels that the university has shown strong leadership in responding to the issue and that this has allowed people to express what has lain dormant in their minds about all forms of discrimination. "For me this was about democracy and education. During their university years students are meant to cultivate the values of democratic citizenship – tolerance, respect, civility, non-racism, – that they will need to live their adult lives successfully in a multicultural setting."
The SRC and Sports Council also joined other student and academic groups in condemning all forms of discrimination. "Our objective remains to have sport at Rhodes be a medium for genuine integration and promotion of social cohesion of various peoples," read the Sports Council statement.
Vuyo Sileku, a chemistry student, said that "campaigns have been going on for ages. How long are we going to have campaigns for? How long are we going to keep wearing ribbons and stickers?" He said that there are deeper issues that need to be tackled but nobody was willing to tackle them. "People are criticising this campaign now. Racism won’t end at Rhodes until mindsets change," he added.
Another student, who wished to remain anonymous, said that while this campaign is a positive step, the university is "still reluctant to make real changes". She said that Rhodes has come a long way from being a traditionally white university, but many are still unhappy. Last year, the South African Students’ Congress (Sasco) called for the name of Rhodes University to be changed because of its connection to British colonialist Cecil John Rhodes. "Rhodes was a mass murderer and a racist," said Kirkaldy who is a history professor. "I had a guest visiting here who was astonished that there is still a residence called Jameson House." Jameson was an imperialist and a close friend of Rhodes.
The Gender Action Committee at Rhodes is trying to remove portraits of "old white men" from the university’s council chambers, but is facing massive resistance from some lecturers and students. Kirkaldy said that the art on display at the university should also "reflect a commitment to change". "People have to know the good and the bad about these people whose names and faces are still part of the university today. Most students don’t know who Rhodes was – they think he was just another diamond miner."
But Banda said that the issues of renaming have always been a part of a larger debate on campus and must not drown out the more pressing, topical issues.
