New South Africa Speak: race talk in an undergraduate debate on racialisation in post-apartheid South Africa

ABSTRACT

Working with a set of theoretical concepts from critical race theory, this article examines perspectives on the impact of micro-aggressions and systemic inequality, as elicited during on online debate among undergraduate students. The debate centred on the degree to which white South Africans may legitimately identify as Africans. This topic served as a means of stimulating talk about the effects of racialisation in post-apartheid South Africa. During the analysis, the arguments that emerged from the online debate were analysed within a framework of white talk, referred to as New South Africa Speak. All contributions to the debate were measured against the discursive forms and functions that characterise New South Africa Speak. The findings are reported in terms of: During the conclusion the potential relevance of these findings to ongoing protest movements at South African universities is considered.

KEYWORDS:

• Race
• racism
• racialisation
• white talk
• South Africa

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Marthinus Conradie is a full-time academic at the University of the Free State’s Department of English, with a sustained interest in discourse, power and society. In 2017, he obtained an NRF rating and continues to conduct research along discourse analytic lines, investigating issues of power and identity post-apartheid South Africa.