Learning Anew: Truth and Reconciliation in Education.

Source: (2005) Johannesburg: Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation. Downloaded 22 August 2005.

Race and citizenship are extremely complex concepts. In post-apartheid South Africa,
they find expression on many different levels, including identity, conflict, nationalism,
history, politics and inter-personal relationships. They occupy a spectrum ranging from
everyday practices and interactions, to formal political and macro-economic forces.
They also overlap with notions of reconciliation, justice and reparation, and, although
they are separate notions with different histories, they overlap with each other. This
creates an added dimension of complexity. Both race and citizenship can be (and
commonly are) articulated and/or silenced to serve particular interests. Both can also
feed into certain forms of violence, including xenophobia and racially motivated hate
crime. Any analysis of race and citizenship must therefore acknowledge the complexity
of their expression, representation and impact. Such complexity in the South African
context must be assessed in relation to the country’s apartheid history, as well as the
processes of reconciliation best captured by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission
(TRC). (excerpt)