Comments on: Biko’s barren legacy

By: Guy Berger

Guy Berger — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 17:33:37 +0000

Ouch!! Daniel Lemmer says people are “inevitably shaped by how they look”, and says we should not overlook skin colour in defining our identity. Hey, I for one do not want to be determined by something given by nature, and that has no intrinsic meaning in terms of what a person is really like.

Judy also wants to fix racial features in history, saying that “Asians and coloured people are in themselves finding their own individual identities and therefore culture”. Surely, we want to free ourselves of a history when race was destiny? Of course we are coloured (sic) by the social construction of race, but history always moves on (even if sometimes backward!). We don’t have to keep race as a relevant thing forever.

I for one am quite happy to accept certain elements from African, Asian, European, etc. culture in terms of my identity (and equally happy to discard others). People, let’s not reify race. It has a history, but let’s look to a non-racial future.

Biko stood for an ultimately society in which skin colour would be neither here nor there. That’s freedom and let’s keep that quest alive.

By: Abbas

Abbas — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 13:47:03 +0000

I think Rhodes University has done an excellent thing by honouring Steve Biko, especially by naming the Student Union Building after him. In doing so, it will inspire students to look at him and remember what a great student leader he was in his struggle to give us all the little bit of freedom that we have today.

By: Deshan Chetty

Deshan Chetty — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 13:18:03 +0000

Steve Bikos Legacy has been honoured as it should, a man who was tragically killed for what he beleived, that we are all of cordless human beings regardless of colour that no one is inferior or superior to anyone else. It was good to know that Rhodes university has honoured his legacy, that many yunger generation South Africans know little about by renaming the union buildings after this anti apartheid hero.

By: judy

judy — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 12:53:36 +0000

In context to the fact that the word black now excludes other people of colour, is not because we,as black people, are denying their efforts towards the liberation of South Africa, but it has more to do with identifying with a colour that is not always seen in the pure sense, because most things that are black are deemed to be evil. The second reason is that Asians and coloured people favour more their white attributes,e.g. texture of the hair, eye colour etc, more than their black attributes e.g. skin colour and so when refering to black one assumes you are talking about africans. Asians and coloured people are in themselves finding their own individual identities and therefore culture. However their efforts to the liberation movement is looked over because the people who remember the struggle and celebrate it is predomina ntly Africans.

By: Chrisna

Chrisna — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 12:26:01 +0000

30 years after the death of (what is generally known as) a national hero, I find myself wondering what it was that he died for? It’s a fact that he was murdered by the SAPD and that the minister of security said : “Dit laat my koud” (I don’t care), but a few people actually remember who he was and what he stood for… If the Rhodes student union is to be renamed the Steve Biko student union, then we will all know who he was, and (hopefully) what he stood for. I believe it is time for us to remember our past and more importantly look forward to our future so we can build a better tomorrow.

By: Vincent Masefield

Vincent Masefield — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 12:24:38 +0000

Many South African’s today are failing to follow Steve Biko’s lead in terms of non-racial identity. I believe this could be due to Biko not receiving the recognition or exposure due to him. Being a Rhodes student myself I am lucky to have experienced an integrated multi-racial tertiary education facility such as Rhodes University that accepts all cultures. This has given me a new perspective on a rainbow nation and indeed Rhodes University is using Biko’s ideology. It’s pleasing to see Rhodes University changing the name of the Student Union in remembrance and acknowledgement of Steve Biko and this makes me proud to be a Rhodes Student as this is another step forward in the right direction.

By: Mapodile Mkhabela

Mapodile Mkhabela — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 12:15:37 +0000

It is without a doubt that Steve Biko changed the way in which black people saw the struggle for liberation during Apartheid. He can be said to be the reason why black people,like myself, are able to make use of all the opportunities that are now made available to us. With this liberation from oppression,I fear that the youth no longer have anything for which to fight. I doubt that Biko’s intention was to help in the facilitation of a passive generation. His legacy and influence are there to reimnd us, that things could have been very different for all black South Africans if he too, chose to be passive rather than active.

By: Hanna Barry

Hanna Barry — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 12:15:37 +0000

It is indeed a sad truth that South Africa is spending more time and money on name-changing than the real social, political, racial and cultural issus that underlie the need to do this in the first place. Whilst I fully support the renaming of the Student Union Builiding and believe it is a significant tribute to the legacy of Steve Bantu Biko; I agree with Professor Berger in that a far greater tribute would be one which strives to achieve the ideals that Biko fought for. However, this is pertinent particularly for the government, who seem to use name-changing as a way of appeasing people and distracting them from the real issues that remain unsolved. Such transformation begins personally – each of us should examine our own ideas and prejudices and assess whether or not these strive for a non-racial societal identity.

By: Kathrin

Kathrin — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 12:10:20 +0000

I have to agree with you. We recently had to write an opinion piece on Steve Biko and only after writing about him did I know who he was and what he had done. It seems like many youths in South Africa don’t know who he was and how he has changed history. I think this is very unfortunate for he was indeed a great man whoc achieved many things! Despite the many name changes currently taking place in South Africa – many of which are completely unnecessary – changing the Rhodes University Student Union after Steve Biko is a name change I fully support. Maybe then will students make the effort to learn more about this iconic figure.

By: Rogan Kerr

Rogan Kerr — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 08:30:06 +0000

Being a Rhodes Journalism Student, we recently attended a compulsary lecture that announced the re-naming of the Student Union in honour of Steve Bantu Biko. In the lecture it was apparent that many young white students were seemingly bored and uninterested because they were “unaffected” by Biko’s efforts. Being a white student myself, I am so happy to read your comment on how Steve Biko affected your life: “he also helped to liberate me from an upbringing that assumed white supremacy”. I find it sad that this, one of the most important changes Steve Biko made, is not realized by so many. I think more emphasis needs to be placed on how Steve Biko helped changed white perspective as well as the non-white social status.