The Great Coloured Identity Debate

(This highly relevant and impassioned call to action by a remarkable, visionary man which I recently had the privilege of meeting is a wake-up call and a MUST-READ – Ed)

The debate on Coloured identity seems to rage on endlessly without any clear champions for this notable cause (besides perhaps Bruinou.com of course). I watch emails go back and forth with people obviously having some very strong feelings on the subject. What seems to be missing though, is the will to engage in constructive and directed debate on what the coloured identity or culture is and then to champion its acceptance / adoption by our communities. How are we expected to celebrate our so-called culture / identity when no-one, it would seem, is able to identify or define it clearly?

Yes, we accept that we are coloured (a classification itself under threat internally and externally) but that classification alone does not constitute an identity or a common culture. At present we share a number of common traits, at least two languages (neither of them our own), an unbalanced predisposition towards emulating American pop culture and communities ravaged by poverty, unemployment, low education levels, high HIV / AIDS infection rates, abysmal credit ratings and an unhealthy penchant for designer clothing labels. Non of these characteristics (regrettably, the same characteristics by which the rest of the country defines coloured people) defines who we are. Cultural identity is a celebration of the commonality of people. It’s what makes one group distinctly different from another. It is the best that a group has to offer history in the way of music, literature, dance, music, crafts, fashion, education, etc.

Now before you label me a traitor and demand I be sent off to the gallows, allow me to state that I am proudly coloured – more and more so each day. I believe that the coloured community is extremely talented, intelligent and filled with an, as yet, untapped potential that this country is currently suppressing.

However, I also believe that coloured people are their own worst enemy. Here we are trying to celebrate coloured identity when we have not yet defined it for ourselves. Another party, another bash, another festival – is this not just yet another opportunity to engage in alcohol soaked conversation that ultimately yields little to no results? All the partying and celebrating in the world will not answer the real questions that are nagging at so many people. Who are we and where do we fit into the New South Africa? We have a rightful and legitimate place, enshrined in our very progressive constitution. Our identity, I believe, is not one that must be unraveled, probed and dissected. No! Instead, I believe it is one that must be defined – by our actions, by our statue, by our example – through excellence!

Let us cease to embrace the battered pages of our history, trying dismally to carve out some semblance of an identity from a past we had little or no authority over. It is true that we must remember our past, not as an indication of who we are but as a beacon reminding us that we must never allow our horizons to be so limited again. When our high school drop out rate is in excess of 50%, our unemployment rate is 57% and less than 2% of our young people are going to tertiary institutions, I cannot help but feel less inspired to celebrate and more inclined to roll up my sleeves and do something constructive. Our communities are in peril! Our young people are lost! Each and everyone of us, generation X and Y, holds the potential to define who we are through our work, our actions within the community, our determination and drive to set a new standard, one of excellence instead of mediocrity, determination instead of complacency, focused engagement instead of apathy. Who we are is a matter yet to be determined!

A logical approach would be to establish a recognized forum where this issue can be discussed and the very many diverse opinions may be heard and accommodated. Culture is, after all, a common and shared lifestyle and daily practices that bind a community together. The coloured community, in a South African context, is a diverse group of people who have been geographically lumped together under the dictates of the Apartheid Regime. Our community, although, common by name under South African law, is by no means a homogenous society. Coloured communities across the country are comprised of many different groups including Malays, Khoisan, mixed race people, Indian and Asian ethnic groups. Each of these groups in turn, cling to their specific religious and cultural beliefs while others have a strong affinity to defect to the “South African” race, or have a strong inclination to be identified as either white, black or Indian – anything but coloured!

Off the bat, many of you would be disapproving of those amongst us who would prefer to be identified as something other than coloured. It would be a natural reaction and it would also be wrong and very short-sighted. Rather, we should examine their reasons for not wanting to be associated with the coloured community. As stated earlier, our community faces many challenges and apathy (social, political, economic and cultural) is probably one of our biggest failings.

What I find encouraging is how many people have started, in one way or another to engage with their communities. The people who comment – and differing points of view is the cornerstone of every major civilization throughout history – are the ones who will make the difference in the end. Defining an identity, getting to grips with who we are as a community, is a team sport. Let us encourage each other to speak our minds. It is through our differences that we will discover our similarities.

By

Roger Warries