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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Educ.

Sec. Language, Culture and Diversity

Volume 10 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/feduc.2025.1611726

This article is part of the Research TopicCritical Racial Consciousness Among Diverse Youth: Global Perspectives and Educational PossibilitiesView all 7 articles

Say my name: Name-based Microaggressions as a Function of White Cultural Hegemony in South African Educational Contexts

Provisionally accepted
  • 1University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa
  • 2Tara the H Moross Centre, Johannesburg, South Africa

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Abstract. In most African societies, particularly among Black people, names are central to people's identity as such are central to how young people develop a sense of self. In the post-colonial-apartheid context of South Africa that we argue is largely governed by white cultural hegemony the occurrence of varying subtle forms of racism is inevitable. Name-based microaggressions are one defining feature of the post-colonial-apartheid white cultural hegemonic context, specifically within educational contexts. In this paper we illustrate how white cultural hegemony gives rise to name-based microaggressions, perpetuated towards Black youth in the South African educational context mostly by educators. We conducted eight (8) semi-structured interviews with Black youths based in a South African university, who had experiences of name-based microaggressions. The interviews were analysed using Thematic Analysis, yielding three (3) themes; Name mispronunciations and Black names as an Inconvenience, Name based microaggressions in the Educational Context, and the Effects of Name based microaggressions. We conclude by showing how name-based microaggressions can have delirious effects on the identity development of youths who are victims, affecting the ways in which they view themselves in relation to their culture, as well as the relationship they have with peers and educators. This paper highlights the need for inclusive educational environments that honour students' identities to avoid the perpetuation of racism in the educational context, and the associated effects of the occurrence of name-based microaggressions within the education space.

Keywords: Name-based microaggressions, White cultural hegemony, South African educational context, Name mispronunciations and Black names as an Inconvenience, Name based microaggressions in the Educational Context, Effects of Name based microaggressions

Received: 14 Apr 2025; Accepted: 06 Oct 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Head and Dlamini. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Sipho Dlamini, siphod@uj.ac.za

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