A striking visual of a Pretoria High School for Girls pupil with her hands up crossed in clear protest was etched in many minds this past weekend - the last of this year's Women's Month.

She and some of her fellow PHSG pupils had decided enough was enough - no one was going to continue telling them that their hair was somehow not good, neat or tidy enough.

How this is even a topic of discussion in an African school in 2016, in a country that claims to be committed to ending discrimination and ensuring equality, is deeply distressing.

This conversation is echoed in institutions of learning as well as corporate halls throughout South Africa. And again one must ask why. The easier and probably more likely answer is that South Africa struggles with racism, and that naturally this would find itself reflected in our schools and places of work. However, I sometimes struggle with this response because of the number of organisations that I, as a culture-change management strategist, have come across that spend a lot of time and money trying to make their environments more inclusive.

Where is the disconnect between intention and implementation? And where do we begin to close it?

There are a number of proposals to be made to PHSG, similar high schools and universities, and indeed large corporates who all find themselves having to deal with heated diversity challenges.

Firstly, admitting that there is a problem is a good place to start. The biggest pitfall among "groups in power" - and this is the term that must also be acknowledged - is they routinely place the burden of proof of discrimination on the shoulders of those who complain about being discriminated against.

The answer is actually as simple as the person who is discriminated against saying "because I say so". Yes. It IS as simple as that. So instead of trying to find reasons for how oppressed groups might be "making things up", it is now time to consider "what if they are not?".

Groups in power need to genuinely commit to understanding and learning from the experiences of the discriminated. It is very important to create a space for those who feel discriminated to voice these instances of discrimination in the environments that they find themselves in. And for those who stand accused of discrimination to listen, without being defensive.

These "groups in power" need to commit to addressing discrimination. This doesn't just entail a simple mea culpa, but actually requires ceding some of that power in the interest of fairness and equality.

In the instance of the recent PHGS saga, it would require the teachers there to admit to themselves and publicly that Eurocentric standards of beauty and what hair should look like are not the benchmark and that in Africa, perhaps, they are even secondary.

Having understood the markers of discrimination, each environment, be it a school or a corporate, needs to define a set of responses that fit their specific circumstances. This is where the real work begins. Otherwise all we'll ever do is talk .

The interesting question for me is "how can we begin responding to racism in an effective way?"

Are we faced here with a high school teaching body that wants to intentionally discriminate against black girls, or are we faced with a teaching body that is a product of its history and simply not equipped to deal with a diverse student body, but are open to learning?

I hope for the latter, because that is easier to fix.

Gwebityala is the head of strategies at Nascence Advisory and Research. His work is focused on entrepreneurship and people and culture-change management.