adminMandisi Majavu
One of the least theorised and under researched topics in post-apartheid South Africa is the way in which black parents and their children are often bullied at racially integrated schools.
A brief survey of the media on this issue reveals, for example, that this year alone the Department of Education in Mpumalanga suspended a principal and two teachers from Hoërskool Reynopark in Witbank after a teacher subjected a black student and his mother to racist bullying.
In another widely publicised incident earlier this year, the Gauteng Education Department found that the Curro Foundation School in Roodeplaat has been racially segregating students.
The so-called “good” schools in post-apartheid South Africa generally cater to white middle class parents. Hence, white middle class parents are on average more effective and successful in getting what they want for their children in these schools relative to black middle class parents.
For example, the Curro Foundation School admitted it had racially segregated students because white parents were threatening to take their children out of the school. Black parents, on the other hand, have to involve either the department of education or the police to get some racially integrated schools to take them seriously. For instance, according to newspaper reports, two months ago the black father of a matriculant who had been enduring racist bullying at an East Rand school had to open a case of common assault against his racist bullies.
In 2012, a black student from Hibberdene Academy attempted suicide after being subjected to racist bullying. The Hibberdene Academy principal was quoted in the media at the time, as saying that the incident was nowhere near bullying, rather it was a matter of “girls not liking each other”.
Research shows that it is rare that non-black school officials will acknowledge the existence of racist bullying in their schools. As a result, black students’ complaints about racist bullying are often not taken seriously by schools.
When schools are compelled to admit that there is a problem — like in the Hibberdene Academy case, school officials will often talk about the problem in such a way that the racist dimension of the situation is overlooked. I must point out that some black middle class parents are naïve in that they think that most white teachers are unraced professionals who view all students under their care in the same way.
International research shows that white teachers often view black boys especially as bad, rough and keen to fight at a drop of a hat. Moreover, white professionals often socially identify with racists rather than with victims of racism. Blacks who complain about racism are dismissed as being overly sensitive, paranoid or engaging in hyperbole.
Even some anti-racist whites take offense when it is pointed out that their actions have racist implications. This is because, generally speaking, white performativity is anchored around what some scholars call “sincere fictions” of the white self.
These include positive images of whites as being more intelligent than blacks and a general portrayal of whites as good liberals who do not subscribe to racist values.
Meanwhile, social reality shows that some racially integrated schools in post-apartheid South Africa provide a captive audience for racist bullying. Furthermore, historically white schools and racially integrated private schools tend to cultivate a sense of entitlement in white students, whilst they simultaneously foster a sense of constraint in black students.
At this point in time in South African history, prestigious educational institutions embody whiteness. No amount of diversity training can fundamentally change that.
Majavu is the Book Reviews Editor of Interface: A Journal For and About Social Movements. He is a PhD candidate at the University of Auckland, New Zealand.
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