Exploring the Use of South African Ethnic and Racial Slurs on Social Media

In this paper, I use discourse analysis as a framework to examine Facebook posts and understand how South African ethnic and racial slurs are used and responded to on social media platforms. I illustrate how language in general and slurs in particular work as tools for the negotiation, (re)production, (re)circulation and maintenance of particular ethnic and racial identities and representations. My findings focus on two interrelated aspects of the data: the first concerns the discursive features of the initial posts and the second relates to subsequent responses to the posts. The close examination of initial posts reveals the ways in which the original posters (OPs) position themselves and those they refer to using these slurs. Social media interlocutors recognise the words “kaffir”, “coolie”, “Hottentot” and “makwerekwere” as strongly tied to power and racial/ethnic identity and deliberately use them to provoke controversial debates and to construct “us vs. them” scenarios. The significance of the study is twofold: firstly, it contributes to literature that highlights the role of social media platforms as vehicles for racial and ethnic hate speech. Secondly, it underlines the complexities of race and ethnic relations in the country by highlighting the need for robust discussions around the way South Africans view themselves in comparison to out-group members, including other Africans.