Public Theology and the Present Debate on Whiteness in the Democratic South Africa

Abstract

During the last decade there has been an intense public debate in the South African society on the issue of ‘whiteness’ or ‘whiteliness’. In this article the challenges whiteness and the debate surrounding it pose for practitioners of public theology in South Africa are explored. In the first part some of the origins of the debate on whiteness, as well as some of the main features of whiteness researchers identify, are traced. In the second part a brief sketch is provided of two different kinds of critical response to whiteness in the present South African society, namely critical responses to structural whiteness and critical responses of a more personal nature. In the third part the challenges the present debate on whiteness pose to public theology in South Africa are identified and discussed. During the last decade there has been an intense public debate in the South African society on the issue of ‘whiteness’ or ‘whiteliness’. In this article the challenges whiteness and the debate surrounding it pose for practitioners of public theology in South Africa are explored. In the first part some of the origins of the debate on whiteness, as well as some of the main features of whiteness researchers identify, are traced. In the second part a brief sketch is provided of two different kinds of critical response to whiteness in the present South African society, namely critical responses to structural whiteness and critical responses of a more personal nature. In the third part the challenges the present debate on whiteness pose to public theology in South Africa are identified and discussed.