I have had the privilege of having the obligation to continue teaching at Wits university in the midst of the 2016 #FeesMustFall student protests that are currently sweeping the country. I say privilege but it has been a distinctively hair raising experience, given the class invasions (which I have personally experienced numerous times), disrupted tests, clashes between students and police, burnt vehicles and threats spread by protesting students. I must confess that it has been somewhat difficult (though perhaps somewhat exciting) to go to campus and face the practical challenges that present themselves to lecturers trying to teach in these conditions.
My reason for writing on this topic is to suggest one thing to protesting students. I do not however have a concrete solution to propose. Nor I do want to make any claim about the legitimacy or feasibility of the requests that apparently underpin their protest action, as I feel there are others much more qualified than myself that can engage in these sorts of discussions. What I would like to suggest is that they follow the guidance that Etsko Schuitema has given to me on many occasions and truly and honestly evaluate their own intent. What I would really like students to do is to examine, honestly, what it is, precisely, that is keeping them in the fight for free, decolonialized varsity education.
One of the concerns I have is that there is more than principle keeping students in the fight. It appears to me that there is a lot of resentment and anger that sits behind this action and it is this “psychological force” that is largely driving protest action. I am reminded of a caution that my father hammered into me, “do not trust what you are going to do when you are acting from resentment.” One can perhaps understand that there are resentments in many of the students, and one may feel that the resentments are in fact warranted. Many students feel significant pressure from fees and have to face challenges and difficulties wealthy students simply don’t face whilst many more simply can’t afford to go to university. Also I can sympathize with the alienation that many a young black student could experience in higher institutions of learning. These institutions can be completely alienating places, with their hallowed halls of “ancient white knowledge”.
But we must not forget that protesting students are playing with large stakes. This is not like addressing resentments against friends or parents, this is addressing resentments against institutions which currently play a central role in hundreds of thousands of lives in South Africa. Given the high stakes involved, I am worried about the degree of resentment that appears to sit behind the protest action. Just listening to one of the speeches of one of the wits protest leaders Mcebo Dlamini leaves me with little doubt of the resentment that sits behind these protests. One might think that the ideal of free education is a noble one (I am not sure what I think). But if the struggle for it is driven to any degree by anger and resentment, then the very people driving the protest cannot be fully trusted to do the right thing and act in the most appropriate manner. If the protesting students are acting on the basis of resentment, then they cannot be trusted with our collective future on this issue.
A person who is operating on the basis of resentment is not sensitive or fully responsive to the facts of the circumstances. Resentment keeps one trapped in a constant polarizing dialogue (internal and external) of the wrong doing on the other. A resentful person is insensitive to options. They get stuck on thoughts of how the other should suffer the consequences of their misdoings and loose sight of the positive change they may wish to enact. I fear that this is what is happening with the fees must fall protests. I would not feel at all uncomfortable with the protest if I knew that the only thing motivating the protest action was a sort of detached, benign commitment to the ideal of free education, but I do not truly believe that this is the case. It is for this reason that I would like to see students examine their own motives in this thing and ensure that they are not getting swept away by psychological forces other than the apparently noble reasons for protest action that they have overtly professed.
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2 responses to “#FeesMustFall 2016”
I am not sure you are entirely correct, or that you understand that not all “resentment” is evil. If I for instance “resent” the fact that 100s of street kids are scooped up for prostitution, or that the authorities stand by while a country is pillaged by thieves, then is it an INCORRECT resentment? Resentment or sorrow are NOT the same as self-serving grudge.
We can argue that back lashes can be violent and scary, but can we sacrifice the need for meaningful change for the sake of a pleasant morning experience? Stop the migration of Moses’ people with him because it just happens to disturb the Pharaoh’s morning coffee?? Think about it. You are suggesting that people give up the need for crucial social justice so you can keep on teaching. Just because your side will act out SERENITY dies not mean that it is fair, just and non-violent. To remain a part of systemic cruelty, no matter how serenely and coolly, is true malintent and evil.
I think resentment can be a useful tool to point towards issues. After-all, where there is smoke there is most often fire. If I am resentful at the poor service of my bank, this indicates that there is a service problem at the bank. But still, when it comes to making changes in society, resentment needs to be strictly and closely governed.
I would not say resentment is evil. I would say that resentment, if acted upon, leads naturally to injustice. It is not about good or evil, it is about prudence.
I think that if a deeply resentful mother approaches the leader of a nation about the horrors of the abuse of street kids, the leader should listen to that person (p.s. this, I acknowledge, is something the nation’s leadership hasn’t managed to do as regards student protests). But under no circumstances should the leader put the resentful mother in charge of fixing the problem once the leader has decided that the problem must be fixed. Such a resentful person might burn the country down to stop such abuse of street kids. The leader needs to find someone who can maintain a certain degree of detachment from the problem so they can remain sensitive to all variables at play, not just the systematic failure that produced the perceived injustice.
To remain committed to finding a solution to a problem does not require that we are driven by resentment. If resentment points an issue out, pursue its resolution, but govern the resentment and do not allow the resentment to influence the course of action you take.
We must be careful not to pave a road to hell with our good intentions is all I am saying. And resentment, if not closely governed, does precisely this.