Decolonialisation

The topic of decolonialisation (and its blood relative , racism) was extensively covered. I am grateful to having been exposed to this topic which I did not understand prior to the course. Although it made me uncomfortable at times and led me through a whole gamut of emotions, I am  glad that I was forced out of my comfort zone. I went through anger (“how could this apartheid thing happen?”), shame (“how could Victorian [and later] science really believe that blacks were sub-human?”),  more anger (“stop insinuating that all the ills of the country are due to colonialism”), even more anger (“fees must fall does not make any sense to me. It’s like cutting off your nose to spite your face”), understanding (“we’re talking about power relationships here”), even more understanding (“the article Unpacking the invisible knapsack by Peggy McIntosh left a profound impression on me”), frustration (“I see no solution to this problem”) and a whole range of emotions in-between.

One event that stood out during the year, was our group visit to Freedom park which led me to writing an essay related to the visit and what I experienced there and is given below:

Freedom Park – a mandate unfulfilled

There was quite a lot of emphasis on the subjects of decoloniality, racism, white privilege and other ‘-isms’ throughout the year which did make me feel uncomfortable at times, but certainly expanded my horizons.