Last year Ntokozo Qwabe made the news as the co-founder of the Rhodes Must Fall in Oxford movement. The Oxford law student accused the university of normalising the ‘existence of systemic racism’ and called on them to remove a ‘racist’ statue of Cecil Rhodes from Oriel College. However, the South African student was later accused of hypocrisy when it was revealed that he had accepted a scholarship in the name of Rhodes.
With the statue still in place, it appears that Qwabe has traded taking issue with colonialist statues for upsetting ‘white’ waitresses. In a recent Facebook post, Qwabe says he cant’t ‘stop smiling’ because something ‘so black’ and ‘wonderful’ just happened. Qwabe then goes on to recall a lunch he enjoyed with a ‘radical non-binary trans black activist’ in South Africa. When the time came for the pair to pay the bill, his friend came up with a novel tactic for tipping. Rather than offer gratuity, his friend wrote on a slip of paper: ‘we will give tip when you return the land’.
Unsurprisingly the ‘white waitress’ was taken aback when she received the note. However, Qwabe had little sympathy — complaining that she burst into ‘typical white tears’:
It seems the current wave of safe-spaces and Stepford students at universities is beginning to affect those who aren’t even on campus.
Update: Rather than apologise for his post, Qwabe has hit out at the ‘white media’ for their ‘hysterical’ reaction. In a new Facebook post, he says: ‘Whiteness is so weak. Cute actually’. Can Oxford university really condone this kind of behaviour?
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