The Free State Mess
I have been silent on the fiasco going on at the University of the Free State largely because some stories almost write their own commentary. Mix Afrikaner racism with white and black college students and the possibility of a combustible mix will be present. The Mail & Guardian’s “Thought leader” has had a couple of worthwhile pieces if you are in search of commentary, including pieces by Christi Van der Westhuizen and Michael Trapido.
The outrage is warranted and necessary and anyone who downplays what happened at the Universiteit van die Vrystaat is either hopelessly blind as to South Africa’s lingering racist history or is simply a fool. And we ought not to suffer either gladly. Nonetheless, we should not be surprised precisely because of the country’s racist legacy. And Afrikaners, not all of whom are racist by any measure, nonetheless have a great deal to account for when it comes to the country’s racist past. If events such as those at UFS manages to remind South Africans of the reality of race, then it will have served a purpose, which is not to say that it was necessary or good, but rather than from the terrible comes the hope for redemption.