Country of My Skull: Guilt, Sorrow, and the Limits of Forgiveness in the New South Africa

“No one can destroy whites—they have survival in their bones. But for us, if we don’t stand together no matter what, we’ll be wiped out.” 

Race plays a large and important role both in South Africa’s history and in Krog’s text. During an interview with one of the first black authors of a novel in Afrikaans, the author says the above quote to Krog, expressing an idea that recurs throughout the book. Many blacks view whites as inherently protected by society, and feel that blacks must stick together as a community even when they disagree with each other or know that one of their own has done something wrong.

“It soon becomes clear that overseas journalists are interested only in the amnesty-seekers and whether there will be important politicians among them.” 

Krog does not hide her bias against foreign journalists and politicians. In Krog’s estimation, foreigners who do not understand South Africa or its people are only invaders looking for a good story that they can use to their advantage. Krog believes that these journalists do not genuinely care about what has happened to the victims of apartheid or whether South Africa is able to recover from its mistakes.  

“All the women are asked whether they feel there should be women on the commission. No man is asked whether he feels there should be women on the commission. Nobody is asked whether they feel there should be men on the commission.” 

While racial bias takes the forefront in most of Krog’s observations, she also notes considerable gender bias in South African society as well. In this first example of calling out gender bias, Krog very clearly and succinctly illustrates the problems she sees with the supposedly balanced TRC selection process.