Student revolution is near

03 September 2015 - 02:06 By Modibe Modiba, BA International Relations and Diplomacy student at Unisa

Twenty one years into our democracy, black students from all corners of our economically untransformed country are beginning to ask the right questions and are pressing the correct buttons. Black students still find it difficult to survive in higher learning institutions and are forever reminded of what it really means to be young and black in this country.Many South African universities are anti-black: from UCT to the pro-Afrikaans Stellenbosch University.As black students we are sick and tired of being spectators in our G od-given country and we are tired of feeling as if we are being "accommodated" on our own land. We must fight white privilege with all we have and it is time we get what rightfully belongs to us.Every year it is black students who get financially excluded by NSFAS bursaries, it is black students who suffer a colonised curriculum, who must walk in racist, imperialist institutions and face extreme racism on a daily basis.South Africans must understand that movements such as #RhodesMustFall and #OpenStellies play a crucial role in transforming not only higher learning institutions but society. Students protesting against the pro-Afrikaans language policy at Stellenbosch University are not fighting Afrikaans but institutionalised racism.As an ordinary black child from an ordinary black household, I well know the emphasis elders place on education.From an early age you are made aware that education is important and that it's the only way for black youths to gain access to the economy.But with all this institutionalised racism in higher learning institutions, is there really any hope for the black child?It's, therefore, very evident that South Africa is headed for a revolution that will undoubtedly be led by black students from across the country. We as students mean serious business and those who are reluctant to accept transformation are in serious trouble...

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