Racism in schools: ‘We clearly haven’t come that far in 30 years’
Schools in Gauteng and the Western Cape have been in the spotlight for serious cases of racism.
Picture: Pixabay
John Maytham speaks with Terry Oakley Smith, Founder Diversi-ti
Listen to the interview in the audio below.
The Department of Education is investigating serious incidents of racism in schools.
Last month 12 pupils at Pretoria Girls High School were suspended for racist comments in a WhatsApp group.
ALSO READ:
SADTU worried about cases of alleged racism in SA schools
Pretoria High School Girls principal being probed for knowing about alleged racism – Chiloane
At Pinelands High school several pupils were suspended after they ‘auctioned off’ their black classmates.
Smith says the big question with the Pinelands incident is why there were no teachers present.
She adds that we need to know a lot more about these incidents before we can get to the root of the problem.
The video at Pinelands appeared to show coloured pupils actioning off black peers, which she says shows that racism pervades our racial groups more than we realise.
“This to me says we haven’t come that far in 30 years at getting ourselves together as South Africans.”
- Terry Oakley Smith, Founder Diversi-ti
In order to address this, Smith says schools need comprehensive diversity and inclusion programmes that include the entire community.
“It is no good just working with the pupils. They belong to a much larger sect.”
- Terry Oakley Smith, Founder Diversi-ti
Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the interview.