Racism in South Africa

Clip taken from Yahoo! News

The riots that broke out in South Africa in protest of racial abuse on Feb 27th, almost 16 years to the day that Nelson Mandela walked free from prison, have revealed just how distant the former president's dream of a Rainbow Nation remains from reality. The protests came in response to a video distributed on the Internet showing four white university students abusing black campus service staff by forcing them to perform a series of degrading acts, including eating food mixed with urine.

The video itself appears to have been posted as a twisted protest by racist students against plans to integrate university dorms. The video ended with an on screen message, also in Afrikaans, which translates as: "That, in the end, is what we think of integration."

Tensions have been simmering on campus over an integration policy introduced in 2008 that aims to make black and white students mix more in university hostels. At present, according to a university policy document, "on the main campus, in effect we have 'two campuses - one white and one black - separated in the classrooms and the residences." Riots erupted over the issue the week of the 27th, and on that day police used a stun grenade to disperse a mixed crowd of black and white students and staff who held a combined protest against racism on the campus.