Creating colonial Portugal in Africa
How colonial Portugal, to project the idea of a multi-continental and multiracial country, initiated a drive to encourage white settlement in Angola and Mozambique.
Race
Uncovering ‘undesirable whites’ in the colonial archive
Can African scholars write different histories about settler societies—especially as Africans or Africanist scholars based in Africa or in the diaspora? The case of Rhodesia (later Zimbabwe) is instructive.
Working-class whiteness vs. the apartheid state
How did South Africa’s white working class—those close to the politicized black workforce—experience the reform of apartheid?
White mineworkers at Zambian Independence
Why did white mineworkers on the Zambian Copperbelt not seriously resist decolonization?
A brief history of anti-black violence in China
The recent news of evictions and mistreatment of African students in China during the COVID-19 pandemic is rooted in a history of violence and discrimination.
The complex history of skin lighteners
The intersecting dynamics of class and gender, changing beauty ideals, and the expansion of consumer capitalism in Africa.
Ending the polarization around South Africa’s lockdown
In South Africa, we are not in a situation where we need to choose between saving lives and protecting livelihoods. It is far worse. We are in danger of losing both.
It has no place
COVID-19 exposes the continued inability of most white South Africans to critically reflect on privilege or engage constructively about the handling of the pandemic.
China and Africa: A trial by pandemic?
Recent racist incidents in China are just a manifestation of deeply rooted attitudes vis-à-vis "blackness" in China that predate and will outlive COVID-19.
Tales of a civilized slavery
Black Brazilians have to fight official and popular narratives hiding the country's brutal and violent legacy of slavery.
At the limits of inequality discourse
Race reductionism is stunting the possibility for radical change in an ever unequal South Africa.
Postcolonialism does not exist in France
It is no longer shocking to witness the prejudice among French institutions and intelligentsia against Africa and Africans.
The identity politics of wax print
A new film by Aiwan Obinyan explores the origins and "ownership" of a now-famous cloth.
Rugby and rainbows
Reflecting on white joy, black celebration, and the meaning of the Springbok win at the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
The place of race in Cuba
Cuba achieved more for Afro-Cubans in 50 odd years than in the 400 years before that. However, socialism did not resolve the question of racism on the island.
Chester Williams and the making of modern South African rugby
Williams, the only black South African player in the 1995 Rugby World Cup, was a complex figure in complex times. He deserves to be remembered as such.
The problem with post-race comedy
Comics have power, especially over the young, and perhaps more than we care to acknowledge.
Black authors, maids and madams
How black South African authors have written about domestic workers. There's a rich archive there.
Arabs and Africans
How the African Cup of Nations shows up Arab-African identity and cultural politics on the continent.
Poverty, inequality and virtuousness in South Africa
The inadequacy of charity in tackling the legacies of apartheid and colonialism.