WORLDVIEW: Celebrate Sandile Hlatshwayo – and bury Apartheid propaganda forever

Our Biznews colleague Rowan Polovin is wise beyond his years. My theory is it's a result of his being blessed with a deep curiosity that drives his obsessive search for knowledge. He specialises in technology. But is an equally dab hand at recommending great books..At Rowan's instigation I'm devouring a masterpiece by Jordan Ellenberg called "How Not To Be Wrong – The Hidden Maths of Everyday Life." It's like Freakonomics for the mathematically impaired, and has opened up long-dead neural paths murdered by double periods in sweaty schoolrooms..Ellenberg, a Slate columnist and Maths Prof at the University of Wisconsin, draws on history's great thinkers and papers by peers in academia to illustrate his various points. Among those referenced at some length is Sandile Hlatshwayo, co-author of a celebrated paper analysing US job growth..___STEADY_PAYWALL___.And yes, Hlatshwayo is a South African. The 33 year old lists Zulu as one of her three languages (with English and Spanish), concludes her PhD at UC Berkeley in the next few months and then takes up a big job at the IMF in Washington. Her CV is littered with awards for "most outstanding student", "summa cum laude" and the like from ivy league schools Stanford and NYU. Hlatshwayo is another example of the many South Africans quietly making their mark in the global arena..But what got me thinking about her was a post that popped up on my Facebook timeline yesterday. My FB friend, a black woman, told about scanning the website of a great school where she'd like to enrol her daughter. She was a little put off when the page on Mathematics showed a white student, while the one on Maths Literacy only showed black children..On inquiry, the teacher in charge of the site apologised, saying this wasn't the message intended. My FB friend gave her the benefit of the doubt. But by commenting publicly, shows us it still rankles her. As well it should. In a country with South Africa's history, there is a real need to guard against subliminal messages supporting old race-based propaganda..It's bad enough with the even bigger challenges the world faces. As another of Rowan's recommended authors Yuval Noah Harari points out in Sapiens, humanity has been plagued by 200 years of myths proclaiming the supremacy of the State and Markets. Thus letting us depict destructive wars and massive income disparity as "normal"..We are slowly coming to terms with unpacking these fictions. But it is in everyday life that the biggest contribution can be made. Like guarding against perpetuating the entrenched racial message of the Apartheid era – and helping to smash it by celebrating achievements of models like Sandile Hlatshwayo who are everywhere around us. The power to effect change in society lies within each of us. Sometimes all it requires is a little mindful attention.

WORLDVIEW: Celebrate Sandile Hlatshwayo – and bury Apartheid propaganda forever

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