(White) Voices: Discussion of Articles by Gillian Straker and Tessa Philips

In this discussion, I consider two substantially different articles about growing up in South Africa and the authors’ reflections on how this has influenced them. I focus on two issues raised by both Straker and Philips: that of becoming conscious of what Straker, drawing on the work of Ngai (2003), describes as ugly emotions, and the issue of voice—who can speak, who cannot, and some of the complexities that surround this issue. I refer to the problematic fact that the three voices heard in this section on South Africa are White and that each one of us has benefitted markedly from apartheid. I make reference to the power of knowledge and the potentially transformative nature of the voices that speak it as is evidenced in both articles. However, I draw attention to the fact that the knowledge and the voices that speak it have not actually done much to change the status quo in current day South Africa—inequality, poverty, marginalization, and oppression continue to be reproduced and maintained. Referring to the emotional struggles that come with this consciousness on a daily basis, I conclude with a hope, nevertheless, that a tiny bit of growth and transformation might usefully come from what each of us has attempted to say in these articles.