The grey line in-between the rainbow: (Re)thinking and (re)talking critical race theory in post-apartheid legal and social discourse

Abstract

Being part of a historically white, Afrikaner, middle-class university, it is not difficult to detect the deeply entrenched manifestations of institutional racism and the systematic exclusion and demotion of black students and lecturers from campus life. I am haunted by the banality of racism and the absence of race-sensitive and race-critical approaches to law and life in general. I am also vexed by a number
of questions concerning race and racialism in South Africa. Among them are: ‘can blacks be racist?’, ‘why are people in denial of the central role “race” should play in post-apartheid legal and social transformation?’ and ‘how can racism be justified?’ In this article, I attempt to confront these questions without claiming to have conclusive answers or facile solutions.