Scarlett Thoughts

I am Coloured

This is a piece I wrote in lieu of a questionnaire that I had to fill in about my ethnicity as a survey about who we are.

This is my take on what it means to be Coloured, and to be a part of my community and what my ethnicity stands for. I have written this not to point fingers, not to cast blame or for any recognition other than to shed some light onto my people as a whole.

I thank you for reading this piece and hope it will shed some light into who I am as well as who my people are. I am South African, but most of all... I am A Coloured

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I am a Capetonian Coloured.

It is not by definition of my skin colour as my country dare states. It is not by definition of where I grew up as we as a people like to think, and it is definitely not by definition of the hardships I have faced in life itself.

I am a Capetonian Coloured by my ethnicity, my roots, and by the language I speak. It matters not what the pigment of my skin is, it matters not that I may rob or steal for a living or that I come from the Cape Flats.

No, I am a Capetonian Coloured, because I greet you with the words, "Awe Masekin," I shout out, "Hoes it my Bruh or Hoes it my Brah," while having no real relation to him or her. I am a Coloured because, I grew up with Koesisters Sundays, buying it from the Muslim Lady around the corner. I am coloured because a Gatsby, a Chip Roll or a Russian Roll can make my day just a little bit more lekker.

I am Coloured where our communities suffer in silence as blood and tears run in the streets. As Gangs run a mock in our areas and we as Coloured people get blamed as a whole as if we are the only ones responsible. I am Coloured, but I am not the circumstance I come from, I am not the area I live in, I am not who you think I am.

I am Coloured because I have a culture that is not known by many, a language that is unheard of by most. I can speak both English and Afrikaans, but I am Coloured as I speak Kaaps Afrikaans, otherwise known as Kaaps. A mix of English and Afrikaans with an added twist here and there, a way of speaking that we as a people have adapted to, by mixing the languages and making it something we can call our own.

"Hos", "Awe," "Hou lyk it," 'Masekin," are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what it means to be coloured. So no, Coloured is not the same as being Mixed Race, and not all Mixed Race can be considered coloured. And once again, no, being coloured does not mean being black.

But most of all yes, hell yes, Coloured is a thing.

My ethnicity, my culture, my people we are a thing. We have our own race, our own ethnicity, our own attitude, style, language and look.

We as a people have those who are lazy and those that work hard. We have criminals among us and those who abide by the law, as my people are both violent and anti-violent. We are both trustworthy and untrustworthy, we can be both rich and poor, as we have alcoholics in our community and non-alcoholics. We have some drug addicts, drug dealers, some gangsters and even some racists, but we are a people.

Do not judge me by my People's Standards. Do not judge me by my people.

No, judge me as an individual, as I judge you and yours. I am an advocate for Coloured People, for my coloured community but I am not the only Coloured person out there. I may be kind, sweet, trustworthy and hard working, but there are others who are not.

So do not force us all under the same caption. Do not confine us to one setting. We are all the above, we are everything but most of all We are Coloured.

I am a Capetonian Coloured, and I am proud of who I am.

Are You?