"WE WILL GIVE TIP WHEN YOU RETURN THE LAND"

May 20, 2016 4:31 AM

Rhodes scholar Ntokozo Qwabe, previously featured in news reports on the Rhodes Must Fall campaign, has posted an account on Facebook of making a white waitress cry when one of his party wrote "WE WILL GIVE TIP WHEN YOU RETURN THE LAND" on a bill in place of leaving a tip.

Reactions online are are largely negative, with calls to revoke his scholarship and a crowd-sourced tip for the waitress.

posted by SpacemanRed (13 comments total)

Does he think she carries the deed around in her pocket or something?
posted by Venadium at 4:34 AM on May 20, 2016 [4 favorites]

Waitresses who live on tips are non-rent-receiving, usually, so it's unlikely she owns any land to return.
posted by tel3path at 4:47 AM on May 20, 2016

they are dehumanizing her, just as colonialists dehumanized the colonized.

this is not the solution to racism.

I just saw a lovely animation about decolonization/anti-racism which offers much better ideas.
posted by jb at 4:48 AM on May 20, 2016

Does he think she carries the deed around in her pocket or something?

Yes, yes he does.

"The manager came to our table and made a scene; this is what we call white tears. They

I don't know what the tipping culture is in South Africa, but I suspect it's more the UK style "never tip" (and, even in the US my understanding is it's rude to ask), and I have no idea if SA offers a sensible wage, but this is a dick move, and he should feel bad.

He made someone feel bad, and actively did so because of her skin colour, because of something someone did decades ago. Why is that okay?
posted by Mezentian at 4:49 AM on May 20, 2016 [2 favorites]

I... I thought Rhodes scholars were smart...?
posted by like_neon at 4:50 AM on May 20, 2016 [1 favorite]

here it is! article and video (def worth watching) on what social movements can learn from penguins
posted by jb at 4:51 AM on May 20, 2016 [3 favorites]

And of course, the catalyst was a radical non-binary trans black activist - Wandile Dlamini - from the Rhodes Must Fall movement.

Congrats, "radical non-binary trans black activists", you have just been made party to this.

No good can come of this. Except penguin videos.
posted by Mezentian at 4:53 AM on May 20, 2016

Good job Qwabe, the legacy of Rhodes is secured for another generation!
posted by Emma May Smith at 4:56 AM on May 20, 2016 [1 favorite]

I would honestly have believed this was a fake account ginned up by a /b/ type, like "End Father's Day." It is that over-the-top ridiculous. I'm sorry for the people who are inexplicably going to be held responsible for this.
posted by Countess Elena at 4:57 AM on May 20, 2016 [1 favorite]

I guess it's okay to do bad things to individuals, just not to groups...

Congratulations--by being a dick to someone just because you have the power to do so, you've found common ground with your historical oppressors.
posted by Sing Or Swim at 4:59 AM on May 20, 2016 [2 favorites]

You've found common ground with your historical oppressors.

No, he's gone further.
They didn't (mostly) know much better.
posted by Mezentian at 5:00 AM on May 20, 2016

If you are going to be mean to someone, be mean to a person who has actual power and is doing bad things, not to the low-paid customer service person who is forced to take your BS.
posted by Dip Flash at 5:02 AM on May 20, 2016 [1 favorite]

I look forward to his next LOL-filled post wherein he regales us with his brave haranguing of white homeless people for their complicity in historical colonialism.
posted by tocts at 5:04 AM on May 20, 2016 [2 favorites]