I was reduced to tears as I watched in disbelief
children as young as 13 years old from Pretoria girls High School take to the
streets to make their voices heard over segregation rules aimed at dividing
them according to race thereby oppressing and humiliating them as blacks with unclean
“Afros hairstyles”. I was more than moved by a young girl, wearing her green
school uniform, complete with a full grown black uncombed hair, and standing up
to a white male adult daring him to chastise her. One can tell from this
picture that this child was defiant and ready to bear the consequences should
they occur.
The picture of this young
lady brought in a sharp contrast reminder in my mind of the acts of the 1976
generation. They were a generation so defiant and ready for the consequences.
The apartheid government’s style to respond to protest with violence only
served to make things worse. The 1976, whom the majority where learners from
different schools in Soweto took to the streets of Soweto to protest against
the inferior education the apartheid government subjected them. That Soweto
uprising as it is affectionately known today, brought to this country a
worldwide attention and condemnation never felt before and this signalled the
fall of apartheid. And indeed that regime fell upon their own sword.
Today another generation
has risen to carry the torch they (1976 generation) left, the eruption of
protest thou not similar in subject or reason, bears similarities in ways we
cannot explain. These learners are fighting not for the abolishment of inferior
education, but for the restoration of their identity. Yes, the war here is over
the protection of the black child’s identity. The identity which they carry in
part through their black “afro” hair. The school’s draconian “Hair policy”
forces these kids to do away with their hair, a shame to our hard fought
democracy. These girls in my opinion are brave and bold to take on such a well
established institution over such a derogatory policy. It is important that
apartheid era institution learn that our democracy will not tolerate
backwardness and segregation let alone racism. This protest is a lesson to the
school white leaders that they will never be allowed to prosper at the expense
of our freedom and that they will never get away with inferior policies.
A hair in my “Sepedi”
culture is a very important symbol that distinguishes and renders my identity
unique. But for a woman it means more than that, a woman in my culture is not
suppose to cut nor shave her hair to a bald, it’s even important for her hair
to remain natural, black with no additives which makes her uniquely beautiful
and authentic. This hair as “afro” and black as it is is my identity that I
hold dear. So trying to separate it from me will result in a backlash which is
exactly what transpired at this prestigious school. It is unacceptable to draft
“code of conducts” that infringe on the rights of human, codes that are not
inclusive and at best aiming to divide our society. It’s amazing how fast
things change, that today, we are going to have to come up with “Hair policies”
this was unheard of till now. Pretoria girl’s high school and any other schools
build from the era of apartheid are experiencing revolt from their own learners
(Blacks) because they failed to realise that South Africa is moving forward not
backward.
While it is appluadable
for what this young generation of shakers did today, however society needs to
take a bold step to address this issue. Our government alone cannot succeed,
they can do so much, so it needs the broader society to confront this issue and
come up with a solution. I’m sure it took many by surprise and I must admit
that South Africa could have never foreseen such. But it has happened and now
we need to take decisive decision that will deal with it once and for all as a
society.
