As Americans are observing Black History Month, black students in South Africa are sending a message to their fellow countrymen: “F--- white people.”
Times LIVE reports students at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa protested the existence of white people by wearing shirts decrying white people and by spraying painting “f--- white people” across campus (explicit language warning):
(Image source: Twitter)
(Image source: Twitter)
(Image source: Twitter)
According to Wits’ 2014 demographic information, the school where students are announcing their hatred of white people is only 22.49 percent white, compared to 77.48 percent black. (“Black,” by the standards of Wits, appears to also include individuals who are at least part Africans, Chinese, “Coloureds,” and Indian.)
Despite the vandalism explicitly stating, “f--- white people,” the actions appear to be part of a larger “WitsFeesMustFall” protest in support of “#freeeducationnow.”
Somehow, white people are directly responsible for tuition prices.
WitsFeesMustFall has allegedly disputed the notion that their actions against white people count as racism, claiming that “to our understanding” it is not possible to be racist against white people:
“We will not be allowed to be accused of reverse racism because according to our understanding‚ there is no such no such thing as whites being victims of reverse racism. Reverse racism is as farce as the rainbow nation [sic.]
To be racist‚ you need to possess two traits‚ which are power and privilege. The privilege that was gained by over 500 years of slavery and subjugation of black people to colonialism & oppression. The privilege is in the form of a structural‚ institutional‚ & social advantage.”
In a statement on the incident, Wits said they “strongly condemn the offensive messages being propagated and we deeply regret the insult that it may cause to members of our community.”
The university states there is a “serious methodological and intellectual problem with [the] argument” that blacks cannot be racist.
Wits also attempted to shame the students for vandalism, claiming the clean-up costs will take money away from financial aid.
Wits is encouraging students to band together to fight racism against whites by saying the attacks on whites are “#NotInOurName.”