TITLE:
Black Youths’ Challenges in the “New” South Africa: Education, Language and Identity in Kopano Matlwa’s Coconut (2007)
AUTHORS:
Khaya Gqibitole
KEYWORDS:
Blackness, Whiteness, Black Youth, Institutional Racism
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Social Sciences,
Vol.7 No.12,
December
13,
2019
ABSTRACT: Those who were born after the demise of apartheid in South Africa are generally referred to as the “born
frees” because 1994 is regarded as a nodal point in the emancipation of the
oppressed, especially black people. South Africa was finally a unitary state
that observed fundamental human rights such as the right to basic education.
Interestingly, when Coconut was published in 2007, the “born-frees” would have
been thirteen years old and a lucky few black youths would have been in grade
seven at the so-called “former white schools”1. The lucky ones would have been ready to embark on
their high school journeys which would determine a life trajectory to the
promised land, while the majority black youths’ dreams would have been deferred
or even destroyed. It is important to note that, as it was the case with the
likes of Bloke Modisane, Peter Abrahams and Can Themba in apartheid South
Africa, “whiteness” still plays a critical role in black youth’s aspirations
and identity formation. For the lucky few, “whiteness” is still a tool to
access white privilege, while for the less fortunate it is seen as a means to
escape grinding poverty. However, as demonstrated in this paper, the black
youths’ attempt to pass as white only succeeds in undermining and in some
instances destroying their languages and identities. The purpose of this paper
is to highlight some of the root causes of the failure of social cohesion. In
this regard the paper encourages honest dialogue around sensitive issues such
as racism and discrimination in schools. This paper focuses on how institutionalised
racism and discrimination affect black youth in the current dispensation. In
this regard, the paper will analyse the experiences of the main characters,
Ofilwe, Tshepo, Fikile and Silas Nyoni. Following Derrick Bell’s critical race
theory, the paper interrogates the
entrenched institutional racism and discrimination and the impact they have on
the black youths’ internal constitution, identity and social inclusivity.
Finally, it discusses the black youth’s rejection from the white world and
their equal alienation from the black world. Clearly, while access to better
education extended to all post 1994, the unintended consequences to black youth
a far-reaching and devastating.