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<h1 class="">Assaulted, doused in beer and called a k****r</h1>
<span id="spnDate" class="">2015-08-31 10:04</span>
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<p class="">Sipho Masondo</p>
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<img id="image" title="Open Stellenbosch members marching. Picture: Edrea du Toit " src="http://cdn.24.co.za/files/Cms/General/d/671/d79dbc24731a4b3a9ee082e5c461d275.jpg" alt="Open Stellenbosch members marching. Picture: Edrea du Toit ">
<p class="">Open Stellenbosch members marching. Picture: Edrea du Toit </p>
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<p>Being black at
Stellenbosch University could get you assaulted, called a k****r or a
baboon, and get you doused in beer for dancing with a white woman.</p><p>These experiences are revealed in the film Luister (Listen), which has gone viral thanks to Open Stellenbosch. </p><p>The
video, made by young film makers, records black students’ experiences
which, they say, are caused by the university’s institutionalised racism
and language policies. </p><p>One of the students in the video said a white student hurled a glass of beer in his face because he danced with a white woman.</p><p>“We
were in a club and I was dancing with a white lady, who was friendly.
When we were done dancing, I went to sit down. There was a group of
white guys. One of them took a glass full of beer and threw it in my
face. They thought I was having an affair with her … How can a black guy
have an affair with a white girl? Sometimes they ask us, what are you
doing here … so what are we doing in an Afrikaner institution?”</p><p>The student, whose identity was masked, said he reported the matter to university management and nothing was done. </p><p>Another student, also unnamed, recalled a racist encounter.</p><p>“I
went to have a beer with mates. I had already ordered my beer and I
went upstairs to the bathroom. As I was coming downstairs, there was a
couple of drunk white students. And one of them called me k****r. I got
into an altercation with them and the bouncers pulled me out first
because I am black.”</p><p>Mohammad Shabangu, one of the founders of
Open Stellenbosch – who grew up in Pretoria and attended an Afrikaans
primary school – said he had never seen such naked racism as he had
witnessed in Stellenbosch. </p><p>“This place is suffocating. You can’t
walk here without feeling you’re a problem. There are restaurants which
have quotas and don’t allow in more than five black people at a time.
Some restaurants employ white people only. Heaven forbid that white
people will be touched by blacks.” </p><p>All six of the apartheid prime ministers visited the university, either as students or as professors. </p><p>“The
library has the apartheid flag. It is also hanging in every guesthouse
and backpackers’ lodge. No self-respecting black person can live here
and be comfortable. You can’t survive here, and the only way to do so is
to fight.” </p><p>University management have ignored students’ reports of racism, he insists.</p><p>“You
end up thinking that you are the problem. But when you speak to black
people, you find that you are all going through the same thing.”</p><p>Many
students on Luister complained about the university’s language policy.
Shabangu argues that while English and Afrikaans have equal status,
Afrikaans is most lecturers’ default language. </p><p>“We are calling
for the reformation of the language policy. It privileges Afrikaans
people and is committed to safe-guarding their culture. Most classes are
in Afrikaans.” </p><p>The institution uses translation devices, but
black students complain these are not effective because they have to
listen to the lecturer and the translator simultaneously. The
translators are not academics and often struggle to translate Afrikaans
academic jargon into English</p><p><a href="http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Assaulted-doused-in-beer-and-called-a-kr-20150829-2">http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Assaulted-doused-in-beer-and-called-a-kr-20150829-2</a><br></p><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature">**************************************<br>N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to its members<br>and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner or sponsor of the list as to the veracity of a message's contents. Members who disagree with a message are encouraged to post a rebuttal, and to write directly to the original sender of any offensive message. A copy of this may be forwarded to this list as well. (H. Schiffman, Moderator)<br><br>For more information about the lgpolicy-list, go to <a href="https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/" target="_blank">https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/</a><br>listinfo/lgpolicy-list<br>*******************************************</div>
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