Saying “I’m Coloured but not THAT kind of Coloured” is Not a Flex

I really hate this “I’m Coloured but not Fabiani Coloured” trend not because I don’t understand it but because of what sits underneath it.

There’s something deeply uncomfortable about needing to distinguish yourself from another Coloured person to establish that you are somehow more respectable, more sophisticated, more successful or more “above” them. We already have enough divisions within our community based on class, neighbourhood, education, accent, appearance and access. Now we’re creating another one?

“I’m Coloured but not THAT kind of Coloured.” Why?

A False Sense of Superiority

Why do we need to make another Coloured person the punchline so that we can feel better about ourselves? And the irony is that the very people being mocked are often being looked down on for wanting to appear wealthy or successful while the people making the joke are using their own perceived social status to establish that they are above them. That’s still a hierarchy and I think we need to be honest about that.

Because this isn’t just about clothes. It’s about class. It’s about respectability. It’s about the way we sometimes measure each other by where we live, what we wear, how we speak, what school we went to, how much money we make and whether we fit into a certain image of what a “successful” Coloured person is supposed to look like.

Nonsensical Illusion of a Coloured Hierarchy

Coloured people across South Africa have different histories, communities, cultures and socioeconomic realities. We are not a monolith BUT our differences don’t have to become a hierarchy.

We’ve already spent generations being told what kind of Coloured person is acceptable. At some point… can we just exist? You can have your own aesthetic. You can have money. You can be bougie. You can be working class. You can come from the Ghetto or you can come from the suburbs. You can wear designer. You can wear Pep. You can be loud. You can be reserved BUT none of those things make you more or less Coloured!!!

And you don’t have to romanticise poverty or pretend class differences don’t exist BUT you also don’t have to make another Coloured person the bottom rung of the ladder you’re standing on because when you say, “I’m Coloured but I’m not THAT kind of Coloured” you’re still participating in the very hierarchy that has been used against us for generations.

Coloured People Should Not Need to Pull Each Other Down

Success doesn’t require rejection. You can change your circumstances without being ashamed of the people you came from. You can become wealthy without looking down on someone who isn’t. You can be educated without treating someone else’s lack of opportunity as a character flaw. You can be bougie without making working class Coloured people the punchline. We don’t need to climb over each other to prove we’re worthy. There is no premium version of being Coloured.

There isn’t a superior version of being Coloured. There’s just us with all our contradictions, differences, struggles, humour, culture, ambition and lived experiences.

I’m Coloured. PERIOD.
I don’t need a qualifier and neither does the next Coloured person. Hou op met die nonsense!

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