A Critical and Autoethnographic Analysis of Conflictual Identity Descriptions that Create the Us- vs-Them Phenomenon, Locally and on Social Media

Abstract

In South Africa, historical racial divisions are a key reason individuals identify first as a particular race or ethnicity, and second as a South African. This colonial and apartheid brainwashing creates the us-vs-them phenomenon between different races and ethnic “others.” This triggers divisions and yields internal xenophobic mentalities and behaviours that generate instability and injustice in societies. Racial distinctions in the South African context have been problematic for decades, exacerbating conflict and jeopardising sound social cohesion and nation building. The concept of divided rule is deeply rooted in the system and has evolved extensively on social media, becoming a socially accepted practice. The us-vs- them phenomenon was embedded in the apartheid system. Racial categorisations were coupled with racial segregation, which led to the establishment of White areas from which Black people, Africans, Coloured and Asians were legally restricted. In all racial groups, there still exist divisive internal divisions that were caused by colonisation and apartheid. This divisiveness persists in the current dispensation and complicates the ways in which South Africans perceive themselves, both locally and on social media.

This paper adopted autoethnographic and netnographic approaches and relied on secondary data sources such as journal articles and observations on social media platforms. Theoretical analysis was used to thematically assess how South Africans see and identify themselves in terms of race or ethnicity, the underlying reasons they do so, and the consequences.