Why Did It Happen to Us? Confronting the Individualization of Racism in a Historically White Afrikaans Institute of Higher Learning

Abstract

This paper is an attempt by three lecturers at a Historically White Afrikaans institution of higher learning in South Africa to reflect critically on their experiences with regard to accusations of racism levelled against them. The accusations mentioned may be viewed as the possible aftermath of the Reitz incident in which four White Afrikaans university students were accused of racism. Through narratives, the writers outline their accounts of events which transpired during a very turbulent time at this university. The ‘dark period’ incident (pseudonym) as our story is known, sparked an outcry from us as lecturers and a student-lecturer to express our portrayal and interpretations of events within the context of the transformation at our institutions. This we envisaged, might bring about closure to the whole debacle regarding our experiences of the ’dark period’ incident in which accusations of racism were made against us.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n27p1207