A desi girl from South Africa was rejected by a med school, but her desi friend with lower grades was accepted. Keeping up with the Junejas, the family filed a lawsuit. In court, the med school admitted it had mistaken the friend to be black:
A doctor of Indian origin in South Africa has filed an appeal in Cape Town High Court after his daughter was refused admission to a medical school… He pointed out that [the University of Cape Town med school] had accepted Sunira’s friend, also of Indian origin, although her result was not as good. The friend was accepted because the university believed she was African… [Telegraph]
Due to South Africa’s discriminatory history, the UCT med school has explicit racial quotas for admissions. It even mandates that 2/3rds of its students be female, which must be a major bonus for male applicants:
… UCT’s “target equity mixes” for first-time-entering medicine undergraduates were set at 42 percent black, 28 percent white, 16 percent coloured and 14 percent Indian. Gender targets required 65 percent of these students to be female and 35 percent male. [Pretoria News]
The parents objected to assuming a disadvantaged background even of wealthy blacks:
They pointed to documents that showed that all African and coloured students who applied to study medicine at UCT were considered to be “educationally disadvantaged” even if they attended private schools. [Cape Argus]
Desis’ share of the South African population is around 2.5%, so, as in the U.S., they’re highly overrepresented in med schools there:
African/Black–79.0 percent White–9.6 percent Coloured–8.9 percent Indian/Asian–2.5 percent [Wikipedia]
In the end, the parents lost the lawsuit, and it’s clear there are lots of desis in their daughter’s boat:
“The reason for admitting black school leavers with inferior academic performance scores and weaker health sciences placement test results is that it is necessary to do so to achieve population group targets.” … there were a “large number” of unsuccessful Indian medicine applicants whose applications were stronger than Sunira’s. [Cape Argus]
Actually, it’s a severe DISadvantage for male applicants and a major advantage for admitted/enrolled male students.
Huh? If they let in another desi w/ lower scores, how does that demonstrate discrimination based on race?
Dude Ennis, RTFA! They admitted the other desi because they thought she was african, not desi.
D’oh! My bad! That’ll teach me not to skim and comment.
The outrage is troubling, though not surprising, particularly given how much it echoes the same fatuous complaints one hears when this issue is discussed stateside. In other words, was there equal desi outrage during apartheid when Asian Indians were categorically advantaged relative to Africans because of apartheid’s racial hierarchy? I’m sure no one was happy to benefit from preferential treatment and “discrimination†then. Is the issue really a matter of “discrimination” and “justice” in general, or a complaint about discrimination only as it adversely impacts desis? People should be more honest and admit that they are not interested in equality or fairness in any general sense, but only as it affects them. You’re right, the current system isn’t fair, but neither is the one that preceded it. And that is the context in which this discussion should be framed. Yes, a more equitable solution should be sought, but not one that disingenuously pretends that in a post-apartheid South Africa past privilege hasn’t, and doesn’t continue to, differentially position groups, as well as individuals.
The University of Cape Town’s present admissions policies are nothing less than an abuse of an individualÂ’s human rights. UCT divides applicants into groups based, essentially, on their physical appearance. These ‘racial groups’ (there are four in UCT’s books), compete independently for admission into the university. See for example: http://www.ever-fasternews.com/index.php?php_action=read_article&article_id=257
and if you donÂ’t believe what you have just read, then read UCTÂ’s policy yourself: http://www.uct.ac.za/uct/policies/2006_admissions_policy.pdf
To see the crime in this, I shall illustrate be means of a real example: In the present admissions system, two children of different physical appearance (for example one ‘white’ in complexion, the other ‘darker’) attending the same school (and even sitting next to each other in class), need to obtain different final school results (matric ‘points’) in order to obtain a place to study a particular subject at UCT.
According to UCTÂ’s official policy, for likely admission:
Medicine: Black=39, Coloured=39, Indian=47, Open (white)=47. BA: 37,37,37,40 Engineering: not entirely clear, but ‘racial numbers’ are adjusted to achieve ‘targets’ Science: not clear etc
This admissions system totally disregards the rights of an individual in favour of ‘group rightsÂ’. In UCT’s eyes, what you can and can not do in society is constrained by what ‘groupÂ’ you are consigned to [the univ actually requires applicants to classify themselves, but warns against ‘misrepresentationÂ’], without any consideration of your personal circumstances.
In my opinion, it is only a matter of time before this system receives international condemnation as a disgusting and divisive policy.
UCTSOS