A lot has been said and written about this movement and there is no need to rehash any of the arguments made.
It became clear though that some students had taken time to research this “Rhodes” whose statue occupied a pride of place in front of Jameson [a fellow colonialist] Hall.
It was discovered that rather than being a benevolent benefactor who had “donated land” on which the University of Cape Town stands, he had been a racist and an arch-colonialist.
The students’ call mutated into one for the decolonisation of the education system.
However, there were complaints that the demand was too broad; where to start?
Is it expected that the entire education system be changed? Does it mean the substitution of white lecturers with black lecturers? The view silently became that the demand cannot in its present “nebulous form” be met or even entertained.
The matter seemed to have died a natural death.
The question remains though whether the demand was valid or not? Were students expressing a feeling of “rootlessness”, whereby they are enrolled at institutions but feel a sense of alienation? If so what is this sense of alienation? The response by the students was that “every thing is Eurocentric”. This means the students were not able to fully identify with the institutions of learnings’ cultures, ethos etc.
Sociologists and psychologists agree it is very important that a child has a sense of identity about self from a very early age failing which, as Penelope J Garfield in her paper The importance of history laments,”…people who feel themselves rootless, live rootless lives often causing damage to themselves and others in the process…”.
Perhaps with the help of Garfield’s contribution we will begin to partially understand the phenomenon of burning of institutions by the students as it seems contradictory to claim to want education while at the same time proceed to burn the same institution of learning from where education is sought.
Garfield posits that the study of the past is essential for “rooting” a people. Biko noticed the deliberate ploy and sinister machinations by the colonialists when he stated: “…the colonialists were not satisfied with merely holding a people in their grip and emptying the native brain of all content, they turned to the past of the oppressed people and distorted, disfigured and destroyed it…the history of African society was reduced to tribal battles…no wonder an African child learns to hate his heritage in his days at school.
So negative is the image presented to him that he tends to find solace only in close identification with white society…This then feeds the notion of black inferiority, black-on- black violence and an inferiority complex etc.
This attempt to find solace in “whiteness” leads to the frustrations elaborated above and what William du Dubois calls in his seminal work, The souls of the black folks “a double conscious ness”.
Garfield makes bold to say: “…History is inescapable. It studies the past and the legacies of the past in the present”.
Far from being a dead subject, it connects things through time and encourages in students a long view of such connections. All people are living history.
So understanding of the linkages between the past and the present is absolutely basic for a good understanding of the conditions of being human…”.
One of the consequences of not knowing history is the failure to fully appreciate the meaning of certain words and their import.
There have been various attempts to have the name University of Fort Hare changed over the years. The argument for not changing it being that the name is now part of “our heritage”. One must at the outset take issue with the view that it is part of “our heritage”.
The institution honours the fort named after Colonel Hare. In other words, it is the university of the fort of Hare as the institution stands on the grounds where the fort once stood, the remnants of which were still to be seen in the 80s just behind Beda/Iona dining Hall. What was this fort? At the time of its construction it was the biggest fort in the Eastern Cape. It was built amidst great bluster by the colonialists about its invincibility. However, when it came under attack January 12, 1851, by about 9,000 AmaXhosa warriors led by Chief “Jongumsobomvu” Maqoma and King Mgolombane ka Sandile, it did not hold. The Xhosa forces defeated the colonial forces under the command of Colonel Somerset near the said fort on February 20 1850. This was during the 8th Frontier war.
Lt-Colonel Hare, who headed the 27th Regiment of the British Colonial forces himself, had been routed by the Xhosa warriors at Burns Hill in March 1846. It was this defeat of the colonial forces that led to a full-blown war, the 7th Frontier War which lasted about three year during which Maqoma trounced Colonel Fordyce at Mthontsi, near Fort Beaufort.
It is important to know that the Frontier Wars in the Eastern Cape lasted for around 100 years, hence there are so many forts in the area. Yet students are taught that during this time Xhosas, for no reason known to mankind, simply slaughtered their livestock and burnt their foodstuffs after listening to the rumbling “prophesies” of Nongqawuse. The role of Sir George Gray in this saga is not taught. The history of resistance in SA is full of heroes who get ridiculed. One is told that Peddie children are/were taught that wartime hero King Sekhukhune died choking on a hot potato. King Dingaan is said to have been indolent, a coward and a cheat. None of the wars of resistance in which he participated is taught.
It is the failure to teach people that they also have heroes who contributed to mankind that leads to this sense of alienation. I make bold to state that a proper teaching of history, not only from 1652, or from 1994 will help to “root” students at an early age. Accordingly then: “The fort of Hare must fall! Colonel Hare must fall!”
There are many eminent Africans whose name would enhance the university’s prestige. The following come to mind: Prof William du Bois, Professor Booker T Washington, Dr Franz Fanon, Mangaliso Robert “Prof” Sobukhwe etc.
Kholo Obose is a business and labour consultant in Cape Town..