A Good Day for Seeing Color: Nonracialism in Two White South African Children’s Novels

Abstract

This paper discusses the representation of nonracialism in two white South African children’s novels by Jaco Jacobs, A Good Day for Climbing Trees (2018) and A Good Night for Shooting Zombies (2018). By making use of a critical race lens, I demonstrate how a diminished focus on racial difference in white post-transitional South African children’s literature does not reflect the reality of contemporary South African society, which is still largely racialized, nor does it necessarily indicate a racially progressive or anti-racist outlook. In order to demonstrate how nonracialism fails to address structural racism, white supremacy, and white privilege, three narrative strategies of nonracialism in the chosen texts are identified and analyzed: colorblindness, selective cultural specificity, and apartheid decontextualization. It is suggested that alternatives to nonracialism in post-transitional South African children’s literature, which are more suited to addressing enduring racial inequality, white privilege, and structural racism, need to be found.