A Reflection on the Politics of Knowledge Production at South African Universities: When Black Identity Meets Legacies of Institutional Racism

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the politics of knowledge production in South African universities, which were spaces of White dominance and racial segregation during the colonial and apartheid era. I argue that even though South Africa may have abolished apartheid laws, racial inequalities still manage to find themselves at the center of most social practices, this includes social practices like conducting research at South African universities. As such, I offer a critical reflection on the significance of my identity as a Black South African academic while undertaking my on-going doctoral project. My doctoral project explores White South Africans’ perceptions of racial inequality. In particular, I focus my reflection on how during the conceptual phase of my doctoral project I experienced my Black identity as burdensome. Also, I reflect on how I experienced whiteness, prior to and during the first study of my doctoral project. In this reflection, I focus on how my identity as a Black South African scholar intersected with the legacy of institutional racism at a South African university. I conclude that South Africa’s history of racial oppression continues to have relevance at universities and this has implications for power relations in the knowledge production process.