South African Students Find Solidarity With Black Americans

Fees Must Fall Protest in Pretoria (Paul Saad)

Several South African universities have temporarily shut down as a result of the student-led #FeesMustFall campaign against upcoming tuition hikes, the Independent Online reports. Students describe the proposed fee increases as a racist and classist barrier to higher education for black South Africans.

The African students have found support from Black American university movements, who view racial inequality as a result of colonialism’s global legacy. As protests grow increasingly violent in South Africa, black students  in the United States have begun to explore the parallels and intersectionality between the two groups.

The history of solidarity between South African and Black American students is not new. From the mid 1970s until 1994, university students across the U.S.-led protests against the South African government. During the divestment campaign, US students demanded disinvestment from the apartheid regime, bringing greater international exposure to black South African resistance. Most recently, in July 2016, South Africans led a demonstration in front of the U.S. Embassy in Cape Town to protest U.S. police brutality.

However, the #FeesMustFall movement, geared particularly towards black youth, is especially similar to recent Black American youth activist movements.

In November 2015, student organizations at Georgetown University, publicized by The Hoya, launched a campaign called#BuiltOn272 in response to the university’s decision to name new buildings after two university officials that oversaw the sale of 272 slaves. This initiative was launched during the same time period as #FeesMustFall.

Some Georgetown activists, studying abroad in South Africa in the fall of 2015, explored the similarities among various activist communities.

“One major similarity was the militarization of the police,” stated Angela Williams (COL ‘17). “At University of Western Cape, the police escalated tensions... While relationships with the South African police aren’t racialized like they are [in the US], they are heavily influenced by institutional discrimination.”

Georgetown students also recognized similarities in the role of culture. In the U.S., black student protests often use silence as a demonstration tactic, while on South African campuses, black students use toyi-toyi, a local protest combining song and dance. Students lead protests in the Xhosa or Zulu language, instead of English or Afrikaans.

“Ultimately, viewing the similarities...  just exposed me to how far-stretching colonialism is,” Angela stated. “There is definitely a strong difference between protest culture… and we have different cultures, but we are still black… ultimately black people across the diaspora are dealing with institutional racism.” As South African students continue to make demands, those with African roots will continue to question their role in international activism.