The Impact of White Supremacy on First-Generation Mixed-Race Identity in Post-Apartheid South Africa

Jody Metcalfe*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

South African white supremacy has been shaped by over 400 years of settler colonialism and white minority apartheid rule to craft a pervasive and entrenched legacy of privilege and oppression in the post-apartheid context. This paper explores the constructions of white supremacy, specifically its role in shaping the perceptions of first-generation mixed-race identity in South Africa, through semi-structured, in-depth interviews. Through a critical race theory and an intersectional lens, this paper unpacks the personal, political, and social impact of white supremacist structures on the identity construction of first-generation mixed-race people in post-apartheid South Africa; specifically, societal- and self-perceptions of their identity within power structures with which they interact. Moreover, this paper aims to understand how first-generation mixed-race people understand their connections to white privilege. Ultimately this paper argues that although first-generation mixed-race people experience relative privilege, their access to white privilege and acceptance within structures of whiteness is always conditional.
Original languageEnglish
Article number28
JournalGenealogy
Volume8
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 11 Mar 2024
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 by the author.

Keywords

  • critical mixed-race studies
  • identity
  • intersectionality
  • multiracial identity
  • post-apartheid South Africa
  • racialisation
  • whiteness

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'The Impact of White Supremacy on First-Generation Mixed-Race Identity in Post-Apartheid South Africa'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this