Prominent South African Poet Responds to Photo of White Students in Blackface - Atlanta Blackstar

Prominent South African Poet Responds to Photo of White Students in Blackface - Atlanta Blackstar: A picture of two white University of Pretoria students, who painted their faces black and stuffed pillows under their skirts to make their buttocks look bigger in an obvious mockery of Black women, has gone viral.

Many outraged people took to the social network Twitter to express their disgust at the students, calling them racist, while others dismissed it as just a bit of fun.

Poet and presenter Lebo Mashile said painting your face black and making a mockery of Black people can never be acceptable and is no laughing matter.

“South Africa is a white supremacist society to its very core, and even though life has changed for a slice of Black people, for the majority of Black people in this country, life hasn’t transformed. The majority of poor people in this country are Black. Many Black people in this country still live like refugees. So why are we shocked that white people don’t respect us?” she asks.