Racism is still ”alive and well” at formerly white universities, a one-day colloquium on anti-racist strategies in the higher education sector heard in Johannesburg on Friday.
”There is no doubt that racist practices continue to persist in our universities,” said Tammy Shefer, a professor at the University of the Western Cape.
”Racism is alive and well at formerly white universities,” she told academics attending the discussion at the University of Witwatersrand.
Shefer said a study conducted among staff at the University of Cape Town (UCT) in 2007 showed that 58% of the respondents regarded racial discrimination as a problem at UCT.
Another 7,7% of respondents said they had experienced racial harassment at UCT while 20,6% reported experience of discrimination on the base of race or ethnicity.
Shefer said institutional climate surveys such as the above-mentioned research could be a useful tool to deal with racism at university level.
Black Management Forum president Jimmy Manyi told the gathering that ”institutional racism” is South Africa’s biggest problem.
”It is difficult to prove, but it is there in all these unwritten things,” said Manyi.
He suggested that when a racist incident is reported at institution, the burden of proof should be on the accused.
Also, all institutions need to draft anti-racism policies, Manyi said.
Norman Duncan, a professor at Wits, suggested that academics form an ”organised network committed against racism in education” and that a website be set up to allow them to discuss the issue.
”We should record, monitor and suggest ways to combat racism … we need an ongoing visible anti-racism campaign at all institutions of higher learning,” said Duncan. — Sapa