“Although she goes quite ugly with anger when Grace says, You English people from overseas… I’m Scottish, Miss McAllister snarls, actually baring her teeth. Now what kind of putting on is that, she said to Tracy-Anne, when everybody knows it’s the same place, same people.”

When Fiona gets mad, and even offended, for being mistaken as English rather than Scottish, I was reminded of the Gloria/Nina name change in Black Psychiatrist, as both women want to change other’s perceptions of the historical context of their identity. I think Fiona wants to distance herself from the ‘clipped white world of middle England’, seen in her criticism of Grant and his ‘irrational hatred of Glasgow’. She tries to distance herself from the image of being an oppressor by claiming Scottish identity, maybe since Scotland too wanted independence from England and many Scottish people came to SA as missionaries. However, to Grace, this distinction does not actually mean anything, possibly due to the way race was designated under apartheid. As Grace’s thoughts are juxtaposed with Fiona’s, we may interpret Fiona’s activism as a white savior, where Grace is simply a passive recipient of Fiona’s white benevolence. Grace, however, is clearly her own person with her own experiences and thoughts on her interactions with Fiona.