Reinterpreting the Historical Memory of the Black Peril in South Africa
Abstract This article employs a critical Black Atlantic frame to re-examine, re-evaluate and reinterpret the historical memory of the Black Peril in South Africa. It exposes the Black Peril as a wide-ranging racist discourse that demonised Black men as potential rapists of white women. This racist n...
Saved in:
| Published in: | Theoria (Pietermaritzburg) Vol. 70; no. 177; pp. 1 - 25 |
|---|---|
| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
New York
Berghahn Books, Inc
01-12-2023
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Get full text |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| Abstract | Abstract
This article employs a critical Black Atlantic frame to re-examine, re-evaluate and reinterpret the historical memory of the Black Peril in South Africa. It exposes the Black Peril as a wide-ranging racist discourse that demonised Black men as potential rapists of white women. This racist narrative was vehemently expressed in early twentieth-century South Africa. A key finding of this work is that the Black Peril was a highly successful racist campaign because it not only led to the criminalisation of interracial sex between Black men and white women but was also used to justify racist laws that had far-reaching effects on social relations in the broader society – eventually yielding a white supremacist state (apartheid) – which proceeded to use the Black Peril discourse to mobilise an aggressive racialisation process for both whites and Blacks. |
|---|---|
| AbstractList | Abstract
This article employs a critical Black Atlantic frame to re-examine, re-evaluate and reinterpret the historical memory of the Black Peril in South Africa. It exposes the Black Peril as a wide-ranging racist discourse that demonised Black men as potential rapists of white women. This racist narrative was vehemently expressed in early twentieth-century South Africa. A key finding of this work is that the Black Peril was a highly successful racist campaign because it not only led to the criminalisation of interracial sex between Black men and white women but was also used to justify racist laws that had far-reaching effects on social relations in the broader society – eventually yielding a white supremacist state (apartheid) – which proceeded to use the Black Peril discourse to mobilise an aggressive racialisation process for both whites and Blacks. This article employs a critical Black Atlantic frame to re-examine, re-evaluate and reinterpret the historical memory of the Black Peril in South Africa. It exposes the Black Peril as a wide-ranging racist discourse that demonised Black men as potential rapists of white women. This racist narrative was vehemently expressed in early twentieth-century South Africa. A key finding of this work is that the Black Peril was a highly successful racist campaign because it not only led to the criminalisation of interracial sex between Black men and white women but was also used to justify racist laws that had far-reaching effects on social relations in the broader society – eventually yielding a white supremacist state (apartheid) – which proceeded to use the Black Peril discourse to mobilise an aggressive racialisation process for both whites and Blacks. |
| Author | Majavu, Mandisi |
| Author_xml | – sequence: 1 givenname: Mandisi surname: Majavu fullname: Majavu, Mandisi |
| BookMark | eNotkE1PAjEQhhujiYCevTbxvNDZbj_2iETBBKNR7s1ut3WLyxbbcuDfywqHyUwyT943ecbouve9QegByJQCF7PUTnOS06kgIE5zhUbAmMyYBH6NRoQUZLjFLRrHuCUEKNB8hJafxvXJhH0wyfXfOLUGr1xMPjhddfjN7Hw4Ym__H09dpX_whwmuw67HX_6QWjy3A3qHbmzVRXN_2RO0eXneLFbZ-n35upivMw1lkbKC6KqGvLKQs9o2RQNGcJBQ1IxaW7KSNdI2prGltbyRXAqWMyZqXRaSg6YT9HiO3Qf_ezAxqa0_hP7UqCjhkhBR8PxEzc6UDj7GYKzaB7erwlEBUYMslVo1yFIXWfQP1ENd4g |
| ContentType | Journal Article |
| Copyright | 2023. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0 (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License. |
| Copyright_xml | – notice: 2023. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0 (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License. |
| DBID | AAYXX CITATION 7U4 7UB 8BJ BHHNA C18 DWI FQK JBE WZK |
| DOI | 10.3167/th.2023.7017701 |
| DatabaseName | CrossRef Sociological Abstracts (pre-2017) Worldwide Political Science Abstracts International Bibliography of the Social Sciences (IBSS) Sociological Abstracts Humanities Index Sociological Abstracts International Bibliography of the Social Sciences International Bibliography of the Social Sciences Sociological Abstracts (Ovid) |
| DatabaseTitle | CrossRef Sociological Abstracts (pre-2017) Worldwide Political Science Abstracts International Bibliography of the Social Sciences (IBSS) British Humanities Index (BHI) Sociological Abstracts |
| DatabaseTitleList | CrossRef Sociological Abstracts (pre-2017) |
| DeliveryMethod | fulltext_linktorsrc |
| Discipline | Social Sciences (General) |
| EISSN | 1558-5816 |
| EndPage | 25 |
| ExternalDocumentID | 10_3167_th_2023_7017701 |
| GroupedDBID | 0R~ 29Q 3D0 3LD AAYXX ABDBF ACREJ ADAAO AEGXH AELGQ AHIZY ALMA_UNASSIGNED_HOLDINGS CITATION CS3 EAP ESI ESX FRS GROUPED_DOAJ H13 HZ~ IAO IEA ILR IOF ISE O9- OK1 P2P QN7 RBG RWL RXW TAE TN5 V8K 7U4 7UB 8BJ ADMHG BHHNA C18 DWI FQK JBE WZK |
| ID | FETCH-LOGICAL-c194t-40cab12af125bfd4d1e761814b53ff9595d8fdedf9ff6d868752557bc94861c3 |
| ISSN | 0040-5817 |
| IngestDate | Thu Oct 10 18:44:25 EDT 2024 Fri Aug 23 01:13:26 EDT 2024 |
| IsDoiOpenAccess | false |
| IsOpenAccess | true |
| IsPeerReviewed | true |
| IsScholarly | true |
| Issue | 177 |
| Language | English |
| LinkModel | OpenURL |
| MergedId | FETCHMERGED-LOGICAL-c194t-40cab12af125bfd4d1e761814b53ff9595d8fdedf9ff6d868752557bc94861c3 |
| OpenAccessLink | https://www.berghahnjournals.com/downloadpdf/view/journals/theoria/70/177/th7017701.pdf |
| PQID | 3068007462 |
| PQPubID | 2039692 |
| PageCount | 25 |
| ParticipantIDs | proquest_journals_3068007462 crossref_primary_10_3167_th_2023_7017701 |
| PublicationCentury | 2000 |
| PublicationDate | 2023-12-01 20231201 |
| PublicationDateYYYYMMDD | 2023-12-01 |
| PublicationDate_xml | – month: 12 year: 2023 text: 2023-12-01 day: 01 |
| PublicationDecade | 2020 |
| PublicationPlace | New York |
| PublicationPlace_xml | – name: New York |
| PublicationTitle | Theoria (Pietermaritzburg) |
| PublicationYear | 2023 |
| Publisher | Berghahn Books, Inc |
| Publisher_xml | – name: Berghahn Books, Inc |
| References | Ditto, S (bib26) 2005 Mann, C. R. (bib50) 1979; 3 (bib16) 1913a; 43 Middleton, A. (bib57) 2021; 49 bib37 Masilela, N. (bib56) 2010 Davis, R. H. (bib23) 1975; 2 Campt, T. M. (bib11) 1996 Jobson, R. (bib42) 1968 Mangcu, X. (bib49) 2016; 13 Collis-Buthelezi, V. J. (bib20) 2016; 39 Gordon-Chipembere, N. (bib34) 2011 Pestana, C. G. (bib62) 2009 Stember, H. C. (bib68) 1978 Evans, I. T. (bib29) 2009 Masango Chéry, T. (bib54) 2012 Marable, W. M. (bib51) 1974; 35 Taylor, G. (bib70) 2012 Gilroy, P. (bib32) 1993 Davis, R. H. (bib24) 1978; 3 Burton, J. (bib10) 2013 Gombay, K. (bib33) 1991 Keegan, T. (bib44) 2001; 27 Moodie, D. (bib60) 1838 Woolley, S. (bib79) 2023 Anderson, D. M. (bib2) 2010; 38 Mills, C. W. (bib58) 2015 Martin, R. M. (bib53) 1836 bib38 Piot, C. (bib63) 2001; 100 Turrell, R. V. (bib73) 2004 Milner, A. (bib59) 1913 Vinson, R. T. (bib76) 2011 Curtin, P. D. (bib22) 1964 Etherington, N. (bib28) 1988; 15 Masilela, N. (bib55) 1996; 27 Brown, K. M. (bib8) 1996 Qureshi, S. (bib65) 2004; 42 Hall, S. (bib36) 1978 Bodin, J. (bib5) 1966 Taylor, S. (bib69) 2004 Lake, M. (bib46) 2008 Ray, C. E. (bib66) 2014; 119 Zeleza, P. T. (bib80) 2005; 104 Pratt, M. L. (bib64) 2008 Hobson, J. (bib40) 2005 White, C. (bib78) 1799 MacCrone, I. D. (bib47) 1937 (bib18) 1913d; 43 Fitzgerald, D. S (bib30) 2017 Bulwer, J. (bib9) 1650 (bib14) 1912a; 42 Collis-Buthelezi, V. J. (bib19) 2015; 19 Africanus, J. L. (bib1) 1969 Reed, C. V. (bib67) 2016 Deloria, P. J. (bib25) 2020; 125 Graham, L. V. (bib35) 2012 Bright, R. K. (bib7) 2013 Jordan, W. D. (bib43) 1968 Wigger, I. (bib77) 2002; 46 Mangcu, X. (bib48) 2013; 112 Hertslet, L. (bib39) 1912; 42 (bib3) 1912 Cornwell, G. (bib21) 1996; 22 Olds, M. J. (bib61) 1989 Van Onselen, C. (bib74) 1982; 2 Zeleza, P. T. (bib81) 2010; 53 Thornberry, E. (bib72) 2016; 42 Drew, A. (bib27) 1991 Theal, G. M. (bib71) 1910; 3 Chrisman, L. (bib13) 2003 Cell, J. W. (bib12) 1982 (bib17) 1913c; 43 Hyam, R. (bib41) 2010 Marable, W. M. (bib52) 1976 Kolben, P. (bib45) 1738 Bland, L. (bib4) 2005; 17 Bradford, H. (bib6) 1987 Fredrickson, G. M. (bib31) 1995 Vinson, R. T. (bib75) 2006; 47 (bib15) 1912b; 42 |
| References_xml | – year: 2004 ident: bib73 contributor: fullname: Turrell, R. V. – volume: 47 issue: 2 year: 2006 ident: bib75 article-title: “Sea Kaffirs”: “American Negroes contributor: fullname: Vinson, R. T. – year: 1968 ident: bib43 contributor: fullname: Jordan, W. D. – start-page: 495 year: 2013 ident: bib10 article-title: Western Encounters with Sex and Bodies in Non-European Cultures, 1500–1750 contributor: fullname: Burton, J. – year: 1836 ident: bib53 contributor: fullname: Martin, R. M. – volume: 104 year: 2005 ident: bib80 article-title: Rewriting the African Diaspora: Beyond the Black Atlantic contributor: fullname: Zeleza, P. T. – start-page: 129 year: 2017 ident: bib30 article-title: The History of Racialised Citizenship contributor: fullname: Fitzgerald, D. S – year: 1913 ident: bib59 contributor: fullname: Milner, A. – year: 1799 ident: bib78 contributor: fullname: White, C. – year: 1978 ident: bib68 contributor: fullname: Stember, H. C. – volume: 46 start-page: 113 year: 2002 ident: bib77 article-title: Against the Laws of Civilisation”: Race, Gender and Nation in the International Racist Campaign against the “Black Shame contributor: fullname: Wigger, I. – year: 1738 ident: bib45 contributor: fullname: Kolben, P. – volume: 27 issue: 3 year: 2001 ident: bib44 article-title: Gender, Degeneration and Sexual Danger: Imagining Race and Class in South Africa contributor: fullname: Keegan, T. – year: 2005 ident: bib40 contributor: fullname: Hobson, J. – volume: 112 year: 2013 ident: bib48 article-title: Retracing Nelson Mandela through the Lineage of Black Political Thought contributor: fullname: Mangcu, X. – year: 2023 ident: bib79 contributor: fullname: Woolley, S. – volume: 42 start-page: 117 year: 1912b ident: bib15 article-title: Fourth General Missionary Conference: Report of Commission VI – “The Black Peril” – year: 1968 ident: bib42 contributor: fullname: Jobson, R. – year: 1912 ident: bib3 – year: 1987 ident: bib6 contributor: fullname: Bradford, H. – year: 1982 ident: bib12 contributor: fullname: Cell, J. W. – year: 1991 ident: bib33 article-title: The Black Peril and Miscegenation: The Regulation of Inter-racial Sexual Relations in Southern Rhodesia, 1890–1933 contributor: fullname: Gombay, K. – volume: 2 year: 1982 ident: bib74 contributor: fullname: Van Onselen, C. – year: 2008 ident: bib46 contributor: fullname: Lake, M. – volume: 53 start-page: 1 issue: 1 year: 2010 ident: bib81 article-title: African Diasporas: Toward a Global History contributor: fullname: Zeleza, P. T. – year: 1964 ident: bib22 contributor: fullname: Curtin, P. D. – year: 1976 ident: bib52 article-title: African Nationalist: The Life of John Langalibalele Dube contributor: fullname: Marable, W. M. – start-page: 31 year: 2012 ident: bib70 article-title: “White Like Us”: Early Modern King Kongs and Calibans contributor: fullname: Taylor, G. – year: 1993 ident: bib32 contributor: fullname: Gilroy, P. – year: 1989 ident: bib61 article-title: The Rape Complex in the Postbellum South contributor: fullname: Olds, M. J. – volume: 125 issue: 2 year: 2020 ident: bib25 article-title: Cold Business and the Hot Take contributor: fullname: Deloria, P. J. – year: 1996 ident: bib11 article-title: “Afro-German”: The Convergence of Race, Sexuality and Gender in the Formation of a German Ethnic Identity, 1919–1960 contributor: fullname: Campt, T. M. – volume: 3 start-page: 65 issue: 1 year: 1978 ident: bib24 article-title: The Black American Education Component in African Responses to Colonialism in South Africa: Ca.1890–1914 contributor: fullname: Davis, R. H. – year: 1650 ident: bib9 contributor: fullname: Bulwer, J. – volume: 42 start-page: 81 year: 1912a ident: bib14 article-title: The So-Called Black Peril – start-page: 1 year: 2011 ident: bib34 article-title: Introduction: Claiming Sarah Baartman, a Legacy to Grasp contributor: fullname: Gordon-Chipembere, N. – volume: 42 issue: 5 year: 2016 ident: bib72 article-title: Rape, Race, and Respectability in a South African Port City: East London, 1870–1927 contributor: fullname: Thornberry, E. – volume: 35 issue: 4 year: 1974 ident: bib51 article-title: Booker T. Washington and African Nationalism contributor: fullname: Marable, W. M. – year: 1838 ident: bib60 contributor: fullname: Moodie, D. – year: 1996 ident: bib8 contributor: fullname: Brown, K. M. – volume: 2 start-page: 497 issue: 4 year: 1975 ident: bib23 article-title: John L. Dube: A South African Exponent of Booker T. Washington contributor: fullname: Davis, R. H. – start-page: 44 year: 2005 ident: bib26 article-title: Stallions in the Churchyard: Sexuality and Privacy in Rural Mississippi contributor: fullname: Ditto, S – volume: 49 year: 2021 ident: bib57 article-title: Robert Montgomery Martin and the Origins of “Greater Britain” contributor: fullname: Middleton, A. – volume: 22 year: 1996 ident: bib21 article-title: George Webb Hardy's The Black Peril and the Social Meaning of “Black Peril” in Early Twentieth-Century South Africa contributor: fullname: Cornwell, G. – start-page: 81 year: 2003 ident: bib13 contributor: fullname: Chrisman, L. – ident: bib38 – volume: 100 issue: 1 year: 2001 ident: bib63 article-title: Atlantic Aporias: Africa and Gilroy's Black Atlantic contributor: fullname: Piot, C. – volume: 3 start-page: 168 issue: 3 year: 1979 ident: bib50 article-title: The Sexualization of Racism: The Black as Rapist and White Justice contributor: fullname: Mann, C. R. – year: 1966 ident: bib5 contributor: fullname: Bodin, J. – volume: 3 year: 1910 ident: bib71 contributor: fullname: Theal, G. M. – volume: 19 start-page: 37 issue: 1 year: 2015 ident: bib19 article-title: Caribbean Regionalism, South Africa, and Mapping New World Studies contributor: fullname: Collis-Buthelezi, V. J. – year: 1991 ident: bib27 article-title: Social Mobilization and Racial Capitalism in South Africa, 1928–1960 contributor: fullname: Drew, A. – start-page: 19 year: 2015 ident: bib58 article-title: Bestial Inferiority: Locating Simianization within Racism contributor: fullname: Mills, C. W. – year: 2010 ident: bib41 contributor: fullname: Hyam, R. – volume: 17 issue: 1 year: 2005 ident: bib4 article-title: White Women and Men of Colour: Miscegenation Fears in Britain after the Great War contributor: fullname: Bland, L. – volume: 15 issue: 1 year: 1988 ident: bib28 article-title: Natal's Black Rape Scare of the 1870s contributor: fullname: Etherington, N. – year: 1978 ident: bib36 contributor: fullname: Hall, S. – year: 2009 ident: bib29 contributor: fullname: Evans, I. T. – volume: 38 year: 2010 ident: bib2 article-title: Sexual Threat and Settler Society: “Black Perils” in Kenya, c. 1907–30 contributor: fullname: Anderson, D. M. – volume: 42 start-page: 1 issue: 495 year: 1912 ident: bib39 article-title: The Disabilities of the Native contributor: fullname: Hertslet, L. – year: 2012 ident: bib35 contributor: fullname: Graham, L. V. – year: 2012 ident: bib54 article-title: Kingdoms of the Earth: Coloured Identity, African Initiated Churches, and the Politics of Black Nationalism in South Africa contributor: fullname: Masango Chéry, T. – year: 2013 ident: bib7 contributor: fullname: Bright, R. K. – volume: 43 start-page: 161 year: 1913d ident: bib18 article-title: Extracts from Report of Commission on Assault on Women – IV – volume: 43 start-page: 129 year: 1913a ident: bib16 article-title: The Report of the Assaults on Women Commission – ident: bib37 – year: 2004 ident: bib69 contributor: fullname: Taylor, S. – year: 2011 ident: bib76 contributor: fullname: Vinson, R. T. – volume: 27 start-page: 88 issue: 4 year: 1996 ident: bib55 article-title: The “Black Atlantic” and African Modernity in South Africa contributor: fullname: Masilela, N. – year: 1969 ident: bib1 contributor: fullname: Africanus, J. L. – volume: 13 year: 2016 ident: bib49 article-title: Decolonizing South African Sociology: Building on a Shared “Text of Blackness” contributor: fullname: Mangcu, X. – volume: 42 issue: 2 year: 2004 ident: bib65 article-title: Displaying Sara Baartman, the “Hottentot Venus” contributor: fullname: Qureshi, S. – year: 2016 ident: bib67 contributor: fullname: Reed, C. V. – year: 1995 ident: bib31 contributor: fullname: Fredrickson, G. M. – year: 1937 ident: bib47 contributor: fullname: MacCrone, I. D. – volume: 39 issue: 1 year: 2016 ident: bib20 article-title: Under the Aegis of Empire: Cape Town, Victorianism, and Early Twentieth-Century Black Thought contributor: fullname: Collis-Buthelezi, V. J. – volume: 119 issue: 1 year: 2014 ident: bib66 article-title: Decrying White Peril: Interracial Sex and the Rise of Anticolonial Nationalism in the Gold Coast contributor: fullname: Ray, C. E. – volume: 43 start-page: 145 year: 1913c ident: bib17 article-title: Extracts from Report of Commission on Assaults on Women – III – year: 2008 ident: bib64 contributor: fullname: Pratt, M. L. – start-page: 245 year: 2010 ident: bib56 article-title: African Intellectual and Literary Responses to Colonial Modernity in South Africa contributor: fullname: Masilela, N. – year: 2009 ident: bib62 contributor: fullname: Pestana, C. G. |
| SSID | ssj0013132 |
| Score | 2.291121 |
| Snippet | Abstract
This article employs a critical Black Atlantic frame to re-examine, re-evaluate and reinterpret the historical memory of the Black Peril in South... This article employs a critical Black Atlantic frame to re-examine, re-evaluate and reinterpret the historical memory of the Black Peril in South Africa. It... |
| SourceID | proquest crossref |
| SourceType | Aggregation Database |
| StartPage | 1 |
| SubjectTerms | 20th century Apartheid Black people Black white relations British Empire Capital punishment Collective memory Criminalization Discourse Lynchings Racism Rape Recessions Sex offenders Social relations Society Violence White people White supremacy |
| Title | Reinterpreting the Historical Memory of the Black Peril in South Africa |
| URI | https://www.proquest.com/docview/3068007462 |
| Volume | 70 |
| hasFullText | 1 |
| inHoldings | 1 |
| isFullTextHit | |
| isPrint | |
| link | http://sdu.summon.serialssolutions.com/2.0.0/link/0/eLvHCXMwtV07b9swECbadOkSJH0gbpOCQwcXhlxLpPgY-3CbJUXReugmUKIYK4MSxHKA5Nf3jhRjOSiCZOgiCCRACPcRpzvyvvsIea9KI5mweSJUKRNurU6UMDwxSgvLnNTSqzUc_5Y__qivcz7fSN9txv4r0jAGWCNz9hFo3y4KA_AOmMMTUIfng3D_VTexjjAyoQatQE6wsPb6tjAAT--wCL7BzhsTL6c3CcpBw6DV8_cbg8Hoz8aXz0CC3d3gBc3gIOHEnJmrdeD_tLZZNcMDhYzdKc74XF-eLs2y9WSL6KmGLpTPklwFwuW07r1mjvStQJqMbjXogcTt02u1BC-Z_st3IyUfjNvhDVHGphJchURi3rMMXIiIyXK8H0pZFush8WNC0yZc4uOdBbbjje3frY8hFntktw_-6aeA2j55UrcvyCgwpGnvZVd03LcC__CSfN9GkwJodIMmDWjSc-cnPJrUo0mblno0aUDzFVl8my--HCe99EVSpZp3kNVXpkwz4yD-LJ3lNq2lgGCMlzlzTuc6t8rZ2jrtnLBKQNYJuaEsK82VSCv2muy05219QCi2jHPMaWOY5dLNjIOAsGR5ZSGUU1k5IuNon-IiNDgpIDFEUxbdskBTFr0pR-Qw2q_od_yqYCjegqI12Zv7p9-S55vddkh2ust1fUSeruz6ncf2L1w4SVI |
| link.rule.ids | 315,783,787,867,27936,27937 |
| linkProvider | Directory of Open Access Journals |
| openUrl | ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&ctx_enc=info%3Aofi%2Fenc%3AUTF-8&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fsummon.serialssolutions.com&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.atitle=Reinterpreting+the+Historical+Memory+of+the+Black+Peril+in+South+Africa&rft.jtitle=Theoria+%28Pietermaritzburg%29&rft.au=Majavu%2C+Mandisi&rft.date=2023-12-01&rft.pub=Berghahn+Books%2C+Inc&rft.issn=0040-5817&rft.eissn=1558-5816&rft.volume=70&rft.issue=177&rft.spage=1&rft_id=info:doi/10.3167%2Fth.2023.7017701 |
| thumbnail_l | http://covers-cdn.summon.serialssolutions.com/index.aspx?isbn=/lc.gif&issn=0040-5817&client=summon |
| thumbnail_m | http://covers-cdn.summon.serialssolutions.com/index.aspx?isbn=/mc.gif&issn=0040-5817&client=summon |
| thumbnail_s | http://covers-cdn.summon.serialssolutions.com/index.aspx?isbn=/sc.gif&issn=0040-5817&client=summon |