Chanté Ho Hip
South African singer Tyla continues to make waves internationally with her viral hit song ‘Water’.
The Amapiano star is climbing the Billboard charts each week and was recently nominated for a Grammy award.
RELATED: Tyla and Musa Keys nominated for Grammy Awards
While Mzansi is naturally proud of her achievements, an unintended consequence of this international success is that she is now being scrutinised more than ever.
Over the weekend, several Americans took to social media to express that they refused to refer to the hitmaker as coloured because they viewed it as a racial slur.
However, Americans don’t seem to understand that 8.8% of South Africa’s population identifies as coloured.
Unimpressed, South African X users took Americans to task for their views and ultimate refusal to respect that Tyla identifies as a coloured woman.
if Tyla were to forcefully assign you a gender because she didn’t resonate with queerness, it’d be an issue…but you’re dismissing her existence and experience as a COLOURED woman because your little brain can’t fathom the world not revolving around American politics. https://t.co/RaydIo497o
‘ reformed heathen (@LWavezzz) November 19, 2023
if Tyla were to forcefully assign you a gender because she didn’t resonate with queerness, it’d be an issue…but you’re dismissing her existence and experience as a COLOURED woman because your little brain can’t fathom the world not revolving around American politics. https://t.co/RaydIo497o
She is not Black. Tyla is Coloured.
The racial history of America is not the only one that’s valid.
You cannot negate someone’s entire ancestry & lineage simply because it doesn’t fit in with your American world view.
Stop erasing Tyla’s identity. It’s not cool. https://t.co/3YUh7rc7Rm
‘ Melo’s Mommy ❤️ (@LeratoMannya) November 19, 2023
She is not Black. Tyla is Coloured.
The racial history of America is not the only one that’s valid.
You cannot negate someone’s entire ancestry & lineage simply because it doesn’t fit in with your American world view.
Stop erasing Tyla’s identity. It’s not cool. https://t.co/3YUh7rc7Rm
@dillanoliphant #Tyla #Water #Coloured #Rasdien #BlackAmerica #dillanoliphant #mzansicomedian #funnyguy #comedian #mzansitiktok🇿🇦 #proudlycoloured🇿🇦 ♬ original sound – Dillan Oliphant
Speaking to John Perlman, co-author of the book ‘Coloured’, Tessa Dooms, said while the word coloured has become obsolete in the African-American context, it does not have the same connotation in South Africa.
Yes, the word coloured is also a term that is an invention of colonialism and apartheid but it has taken on and continued a meaning that has far surpassed that.
Tessa Dooms, author
Yes, the word coloured is also a term that is an invention of colonialism and apartheid but it has taken on and continued a meaning that has far surpassed that.
Coloured still exists in the South African hexagon not because the apartheid government did such a good job of making us believe that we are somehow different from other black groupings in society. But, because coloured communities forced together by the violence of apartheid and classification have created communities of people who have created a shared lived experience… shared meaning, culture and religion.
Tessa Dooms, author
Coloured still exists in the South African hexagon not because the apartheid government did such a good job of making us believe that we are somehow different from other black groupings in society. But, because coloured communities forced together by the violence of apartheid and classification have created communities of people who have created a shared lived experience… shared meaning, culture and religion.
While it is important not to downplay another country’s history, it tends to become redundant each time South Africans have to argue for their right to exist.
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