Quote:
Originally posted by Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)
Coloured was the term for non-blacks in SA, which meant most of those with Indian heritage. They were the middle category, with more rights than blacks (which is to say: some). Blacks were in their own category, and were in that category based on criteria like the US used to use (curliness of hair etc.).
|
Actually,
Asians had their own category, above that of "coloureds" but not quite that of whites. "Coloured" did refer specifically to people of mixed race and/or people of Coisan heritage (one of the indigenous tribes of the Cape who had very light skin, who mixed quite a lot with the original Dutch settlers and their Malay slaves).
I believe the curly hair test was referred to as the "pencil test." If you stick a pencil in the hair at the side of the head and it doesn't fall out, the person is not white. (The S.A.s of my acquaintance were amazed to hear of the south's "paper bag test.") But if one of your parents is demonstrated to be coloured, so are you as a legal matter, how you look notwithstanding (though how you look matters most in terms of how you actually get treated).
BR(my S.A. friends were very amused that my dad fails the pencil test)C
