Calls to fire Habib are on the go, immediately after he said the N- word, a black student who was part of the meeting tells Habib he had no right to use the N-word.
He told habib who is the director of SOAS saying: “You are not a black man, you cannot use the word, regardless of your lived experience.”
“You have not faced the trauma and the oppression of black bodies, what we go through 24/7 for the last 500 years.
“You do not embody our history, therefore, you cannot use the word.”
Habib tried to apologize but it seems the words came out all wrong saying he comes from: “a part of the world where when someone use it, context matters”.
END RESULT:
Habib was on hot coal after the video got released and went viral over the weekend and students and the philosophers’ society at SOAS called for him to be fired.
The EFF also slammed Habib, saying he should be removed from his position because he “exhibited extreme bigotry”.
The party said: “In a typical display of racist arrogance, and a disregard for being called to order which was his trademark in his shameful tenure at the University of Witwatersrand, Habib refused to be corrected on his position and how it was historically and politically wrong for him to use the N-word when he does not have the social and cultural experience of the word.”
In a petition circulating publicly, a call was made for the removal, resignation and/or dismissal of Habib within 31 days.
According to the petition Habib’s action was “emblematic of the experience black students go through at SOAS”.
It stated this pointed to “the structural racism embedded within SOAS” and that students want nothing of an apology from Habib and only seek his dismissal.
The petition read: “For us as a black student body, we shall not accept leadership from a director who is racist and does not understand the African condition, African history and why there are black Africans in the diaspora.”
Habib spoke to the Sunday Times saying the meeting was for the sole purpose of discussing the problems at SOAS, and he was challenged about a staff member who had allegedly used the slur.
He said: “I said, ‘This is the first time I’ve heard of it, but if somebody has used the N-word against another human being — and I actually verbalised the word — then it would violate our policies and we would take action, and please bring it to my attention’.”
He insisted that the reason he used the N-word was not for “malevolent intention”, saying: “It has become quite a controversy in part because some student leaders have mobilised around it and some South African actors have got involved in it”.
In an explanation on Twitter, Habib said the viral video was deliberately cropped in a way to misrepresent.
He said: “Do I think I did something wrong? No, for reasons I explained above. However, I did apologise because some individuals felt offended, and it was the right thing to do. Did it make a difference? No, because some focus on the politics of spectacle. These are my final words on the issue.”