COLOURED - How Classification Became Culture

'This is a book for Coloured people, by Coloured people, a book of Coloured and colourful stories from varied corners of the South African vista, past, present and future.'

 

What does it mean to be Coloured? Who are Coloured people? Are they San or Khoe, Malay or mixed, and where in South Africa do they fit in? And then the enduring, but also insulting, question:

do Coloured people even have a culture?



In this book, Tessa Dooms and Lynsey Ebony Chutel challenge the notion that Coloured people do not have a distinct heritage or culture - that they are neither Black nor White enough - and present

a different angle to that narrative. They delve into the history of Coloured people as descendants of indigenous Africans and as a people whose identity has been shaped by colonisation and slavery, and unpack the racial and political hierarchies these forces created.



Although this book examines a difficult history, it is also about the culture that Coloured communities have created for themselves through food, music and shared lived experiences. This culture is an act of defiance and resilience.



Coloured is a reflection on, and celebration of, Coloured identities as lived experiences. It is a call to Coloured communities to reclaim their identity - and an invitation to understand the history of Coloured people and their place in the making of South Africa's future.