I was fascinated to read a newspaper report on Prof. Jonathan Jansen's address to the College of Education in Pretoria on 20 November 2013. But it wasn't so much what he said, which was as always erudite and logical, but his reference to the "study by a ministerial oversight committee on transformation" was eye-popping. The report allegedly states that it was "'difficult to transform privilege", especially entrenched white privilege, voluntarily and suggested "extraordinary measures are needed"."
I decided to look for the report to see how the ministerial oversight committee (or MOC for short) defined "entrenched white privilege". I couldn't find the report online, even on the Department of Higher Education's website. So I assume it means what such a statement usually implies: that the damned whites mustn't expect to go to university even if they qualify to do so because we hate the sight of whites being given the opportunity to work hard to earn degrees.
But while surfing to find MOC's report, I came across an astounding report concerning some of the comments made in the report, on the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal's School of Education website. The first comment was that the report found that racial change in universities was not happening with the speed and dexterity anticipated. The debatable assumption is that the desired "speed and dexterity" were in fact correctly anticipated. Perhaps the authors can explain what the report means by "dexterity". The mind boggles at the idea of "dexterous" transformation. By the way, the MOC included as its members Professor Malegapuru Makgoba vice-chancellor of UKZN (the head of the MOC) and Professor Kesh Govinder, dean of the school of mathematics, statistics and computer science at UKZN.
Then the real beauty was to follow:
"The research applied an ‘equity index' when examining the demographic profiles of students and staff across South Africa's 23 universities, and used race demographics from the 2011 national census as the baseline. The index, a quantitative measure based on the Euclidean distance formula, adopted the principle that the racial and gender demographics of a university should be as close as possible, if not equal to, national figures.
A joint statement by UKZN and the transformation oversight committee for public universities said the study showed South Africa's previously advantaged institutions had poor equity indices, but scored well as high-level knowledge producers. Correspondingly, universities of technology and several formerly disadvantaged institutions produced "little research, but have a good equity profile. UKZN created the equity index to measure the distance between organisational demographics and national demographics and the timeframe it would take each institution to attain transformation."
Since when did racial equity ratios equate to or trump the production of "high- level" knowledge? The use of the Euclidian distance formula (whatever that is) doesn't seem to have elucidated that there is nothing necessarily logical or innocent about the idea that conformity to the national demographic is realistic, achievable or even necessary. This is particularly given the observation that "previously advantaged universities" had "poor equity indices, but scored well as high-level knowledge producers" and that technikons and some "formerly disadvantaged institutions" produced "little research, but have a good equity profile"."
Blade Nzimande and his acolytes continue to legitimise the contemptuously and largely justifiably named "bush colleges" (universities created by the Nats for blacks) as "previously disadvantaged universities", instead of either closing them down or transforming them into something altogether more realistic and practical.
On a serious and more sinister note, the use of the terms "Euclidian formulas" and "equity indices" suggest that social engineering can be scientifically structured and justified. Hitler said something about "entrenched Jewish privilege" when he barred Jews from higher education in Nazi Germany prior to exterminating them. He probably also made a calculation based on the Euclidian distance formula. I'm afraid the image that comes to mind of such a formula is something like Ycattle cars x 1000 trains x 100 Jews per cattle car x no. of miles to an Eastern Polish concentration camp = Z2 dead Jews.
I quote the following, which is a translation of Document 2022-PS:
"1933 REICHSGESETZBLATT, PART I, PAGE 225
Law against overcrowding of German Schools and Higher Institutions of 25 April 1933
The Reich Government has enacted the following law that is promulgated herewith:
Article 3
In those special schools and faculties where the number of pupils and students is greatly disproportionate to professional demand, the number of registered students must be reduced during the school year 1933 as far as it is, without excessive rigor, consistent with a proper proportion.
Article 4
The number of non-Aryan Germans, within the meaning of the Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service, of 7 April 1933 (Rgbl I, p 175), who may be admitted to schools, colleges and universities, must not exceed a number proportionate to the Aryan students in each school, college or university compared to the percentage of non-Aryans within the entire German population. This proportion is fixed uniformly for the whole Reich.
If, in accordance with Article 3, the number of pupils and students is to be reduced, there is likewise a proper proportion to be established between the total number of students and the number of non- Aryans. In doing so a somewhat higher proportion may be fixed.
Clauses 1 and 2 do not apply in the case of non-Aryans, whose fathers have fought at the front during the World War for Germany or her allies, or to children whose parents were married before the enactment of this law, if the father or mother or two of the grandparents are of Aryan origin. The number of these students is not to be included when calculating the quota of non-Aryans.
Article 7
The decree is valid upon promulgation.
Berlin, 25 April 1933
The Reich Chancellor
Adolf Hitler
The Reich Minister of the Interior
Frick"
In case anyone thought that Marxism isn't fascism. Wait until I tackle employment targets and quotas!
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