PDF Print E-mail

Submitting your story 
The project’s aim is to collect personal stories or narratives in order to understand ordinary people’s earliest and/or most significant experiences of everyday life during the apartheid years (i.e. of racist perpetration and victimisation), and how these experiences continue to affect life in South Africa today. In order to do this we are inviting ALL South Africans older than 20 years of age to submit narratives or short stories of their earliest and/or most significant experiences of race and racism in apartheid South Africa, to the project.

Your personal experiences are important for our society more broadly and so we invite you to participate in this research project by submitting a short story for recording and examination by researchers, and for possible public dissemination.

How do I submit my story?
You can submit your story in one of two ways.

  1. You can type your story directly into the box and click on submit when you want to finally submit it to the project.

  2. You can write your story in Word or using any other word processor, copy it, paste it into the box, and then submit it to the project.
Your story should describe your earliest and/or most significant experiences of race, racism and life during apartheid, and should contain:
  1. The approximate year in which you were exposed to the experience reflected upon
  2. The place
  3. The key people involved
  4. The impact, if any, this incident may have had on your views of yourself and your relationships with others today.
  5. Some personal details which will be removed from the story if it is disseminated publicly, such as previous ‘race classification’ during apartheid, approximate age at present, region/province from which you originally come from, region/province where you currently reside, and gender.
How long should my story be?
While your story can be of any length, ideally it should not exceed four typed pages (1.5 spacing).

What will happen to the story I submit?
The stories will be placed on the website under a different name, unless you would like your actual name attached to it. The researchers working on the project will collect and examine the stories. 

Their examinations could be published in journal articles, books and on various websites. All the stories will eventually be stored or archived electronically and will be available to the public.

Who will know that I wrote the story?
The information that you provide as part of your submission with be anonymised. In other words, your narrative will be included in our database under a pseudonym and in a manner that will make it impossible for you to be identified, unless you specifically state that you would like your name attached to your story and provide us with those details. 

Can I request my story back?
You can request your back by emailing one of the researchers. However, in so doing, the researchers will know who you are, but they will not share who wrote which story with anybody.

Who can I contact?
If you have any questions about the project, please send an email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or phone +27 11 717 4524

 

What others have written

What it all meant

I was eight years of age when I started hearing about them, again and again; around the fireplaces, at school, and on the local radio stations. "Abargrogrisi/abanqolobi! [the terrorists] They've jumped the Lesotho borders and are threatening our peace... more

A Road Trip with a DIFFERENCE

My earliest recollection of the conscious imprint of race as a form of difference dates back to when I was about six-years old. Upon reflection, I am sure that race and the segregation of apartheid had impacted on me prior to this in many insidious ways, but this is one of the most significant memories... more

I Remember

As on other occasions that I'd had no control over, my prepubescent anger threatened to overwhelm me and soon we were furiously raining fists on each other. And then somewhere in the midst of the litany of swearing in Xhosa and beating, I uttered the words I most regret... more

The many colours of madness

I was born and raised in Cape Town by parents who were not overtly political. In 1948, my father, a very dark skinned, kinky haired man, classified as Malay was married by Moslem rights to my mother who was classified as white. The awareness... more

A time of awareness

During my teenage years, I was deeply involved in the youth work of a local church in Cape Town. The minister of the church, and his family, exposed the congregation to 'life in South Africa' through sermons (the minister), and through a very vibrant youth club... more