Mixed Race Studies

Hope, Fear, Shame, Frustration: Continuity and Change in the Expression of  Coloured Identity in White Supremacist South Africa, 1910-1994

Journal of Southern African Studies
Volume 32, Number 3 (September, 2006)
pages 467-487

Mohamed Adhikari, Associate Professor of Historical Studies,
University of Cape Town

This article seeks to explain the basic impulses behind coloured exclusivity in white supremacist South Africa and to elaborate on continuity and change in the processes of coloured self-definition by identifying the core attributes of coloured identity and outlining the ways in which they operated to reinforce and reproduce that identity. The central argument is that coloured identity is better understood not as having evolved through a series of transformations, as conventional historical thinking would have it and as the existing literature assumes, but as having remained remarkably stable throughout the era of white rule. It is argued that this stability derived from a core of enduring characteristics that informed the manner in which colouredness functioned as an identity during this period. This is not to contend that coloured identity was static or that it lacked fluidity, but that there were both important constraints on the ways in which it was able to find expression and sufficiently strong continuities in its day-to-day functioning for coloured identity to have remained recognisably uniform despite radical changes in the social and political landscape during this time. The principal constituents of this stable core are the assimilationism of the coloured people, which spurred hopes of future acceptance into the dominant society; their intermediate status in the racial hierarchy, which generated fears that they might lose their position of relative privilege and be relegated to the status of Africans; the negative connotations, especially the shame attached to racial hybridity, with which colouredness was imbued; and finally, the marginality of the coloured community, which severely limited their options for social and political action, giving rise to a great deal of frustration.

Read or purchase the article here.

Between Race; Beyond Race: The Experience of Self-Identification of Indian-White Biracial Young Adults and the factors Affecting their Choices of Identity

PINS (Psychology in Society)
Issue 34 (2006)
pages 1-16

Dennis Francis, Dean of Education
University of The Free State, South Africa

This study, based on my doctoral research, is an exploration of how nine Indian-White biracial young adults interpret their social reality, especially with regard to their understanding and experience of racial identity. I chose life histories as a method in line with my view of social identity as a resource that people draw on in constructing personal narratives, which provide meaning and a sense of continuity to their lives. As a life history researcher I started with the assumption that by asking the participants to tell me stories of their lives I would gain access to how biracial young adults interpret their social world and what they believe about themselves. All of the primary research took place within the Durban area. In giving an account of their identities, the nine biracial young adults in my study described their life worlds as the sum of many parts, which included but was not limited to their racial identity. With regards to racial identity, the participants chose a variety of ways to name themselves. Four self-identified as Indian, one chose not to place himself into a racial category, and four named themselves as Indian and White or mixed race. None of the nine Indian-White biracial young adults in my study named themselves as White, and none identified themselves as Coloured. The participants named a combination of factors as influencing how they identified – at times these were not without inconsistencies and contradictions. While some factors were more salient than others, I argue that no single factor that influences identity can be looked at in isolation or as assumed to be more important from any other. In their account of the various factors that contributed to their understanding of racial identity, none of the participants identified their assigned racial classification as having a direct influence on their choice of racial identity.

Read the entire article here.

The Language of Ham and the Language of Cain: “Dialect” and Linguistic Hybridity in the Work of Adam Small

The Journal of Commonwealth Literature
Volume 45, Number 3 (September 2010)
pages 389-408
DOI: 10.1177/0021989410377550

Nicole Devarenne, Lecturer in English
University of Dundee, Scotland, United Kingdom

The “coloured” South African writer Adam Small has made an important and largely unrecognized contribution to anti-apartheid literature in Afrikaans. His pioneering use of “Kaaps” (a linguistic variety spoken by “coloured” Afrikaners at the Cape) in his poetry and plays complicated the racial designation of Afrikaans as a “white” language and challenged the dominance of the “white” Afrikaans literary tradition. In a literature where the variety used by the white nationalist government was also that used by (albeit some of them dissident) Afrikaans writers, he created an appetite and appreciation for vernacular language as a medium of resistance against white supremacy. His work has helped to make possible a continuing investment by Afrikaans writers (white as well as “coloured”) in non-standard language as resistance to cultural imperialism and nationalism. During apartheid, however, he faced considerable criticism for his use of what was seen as a degraded and degrading “dialect”, and for his ostensible complicity in apartheid as a self-avowed “brown Afrikaner”. This article examines some of the difficulties which faced “coloured”Afrikaans writers during apartheid, taking Small as a specific example of a writer whose career displays the impact of the collision between “coloured” separatism and a politically pragmatic universalism, and proposes a reconsideration of his work as a subversive, ironic and ground-breaking intervention in South African literature.

Read or purchase the article here.

Beyond borders: Multiracial identities in the shadow of blackness

53rd Annual Conference of the Comparative and International Education Society
Francis Marion Hotel
Charleston South Carolina
2009-09-24

Fileve Palmer
Indiana University

Within the United States and South Africa the idea of multiracial identity has often been subverted beneath a collective, more powerful Black political identity. The idea of multiracial individuals within the larger realm of Blackness has varied throughout time. Often touted as being less than Black, inauthentic, or simply mimics of White, European culture; multiracial individuals in these two nations have similar experiences that form unique cultural traits. In this paper I compare multiracial communities within the United States and South Africa. Through first hand interviews and an in-depth literature review I will show that multiracial individuals living on either side of the equator share similar experiences and suffered like prejudices despite being worlds apart. From the stereotypical immoral, hypersexualized Coloured South African born from colonizers and colonized to weak, sterile Mulattos in the States born from slaves and masters I will demonstrate how these views affect identity formation and how one learns to be or not to be Coloured, Creole, Mulatto or forsake it to pass as Black or White, further problematizing rigid racial categories. How is the trend of multiculturalism within society and schools allowing for individuals within these categories to express themselves and be taken legitimately?

Interracial families in South Africa: an exploratory study

Rand Afrikaans University
June 1994
310 pages
(In English and Afrikaans)

Lesley Morrall

A dissertation presented in partial fulfillment of the requirement of the degree Doctor of Literature and Philosophy in Psychology in the Faculty of Arts at Rand Afrikaans University.

Interracial marriage can be viewed as a barometer of social change. South Africa has historically been a country of racial tension with legislation seeking to keep the races apart. However, during April 1994 the country’s first democratic elections took place, thus ending the reign of white minority rule. It is against this backdrop that the present study took place. The aim of the study is to seek a deeper understanding of the experiences of mixed: race families living in South Africa. Certain questions are raised, inter alia; the causes for interracial relationships and marriage, the reactions of the families of origin, the patterns of adjustment, the raising of the children with specific reference to identity development and, the reactions of the community. Theories on prejudice, discrimination and interpersonal attraction were studied as a basis for a possible understanding of the phenomenon of mixed marriage. A brief exposition of the history of South Africa detailing relevant legislation places the study in context. Statistics on the incidence of interracial marriage and divorce were tabulated. Research pertaining to mixed marriage and interracial children was reviewed emphasizing the issues as outlined in the questions posed. However, very few studies could be found which related to South Africa. As such, media coverage of interracial relationships as reported in South Africa between 1993 to 1994 was also covered.

Table of Contents

• ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
• SUMMARY (ENGLISH)
• SUMMARY (AFRIKAANS)

1. OVERVIEW
   1. Introduction
   2. Marriage
   3. Family
   4. The Concept of Race
   5. The Concept of Mixed-Race
   6. The Present Study
      • Aims of the study
2. THEORIES : PREJUDICE, DISCRIMINATION AND INTERPERSONAL ATTRACTION
   1. Introduction
   2. Prejudice and Discrimination Defined
   3. The Origin of Prejudice
   4. Theories of Prejudice
   5. Combatting Prejudice
   6. Interpersonal Attraction Defined
   7. Proximity
   8. Emotional State
   9. Need for Affiliation
   10. Physical Attractiveness
   11. Similarity
   12. Conclusion
3. HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF SOUTH AFRICA AND THE LAW
   1. Introduction
   2. Historical Overview
   3. Legislation
      • The Population Registration Act, Act 30 of 1950
      • The Group Areas Act, Act 41 of 1950
      • History of the Immorality Act and the Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act
        • Media coverage
        • Repeal of the Acts
   4. Conclusion
4. LITERATURE REVIEW: MIXED-RACE MARRIAGE
   1. Introduction
   2. Trends and Pattems of Mixed-Race Marriage
   3. Spouse Selection
   4. Adjustment
   5. Divorce
   6. Public Attitudes towards Mixed Marriage
   7. Attitude of Family towards Mixed-Race Couples
   8. Research Critique
   9. Conclusions from the literature Review
5. LITERATURE REVIEW: MIXED-RACE CHILDREN
   1. Introduction
   2. Theories: Biracial Children and their Identity
   3. Studies of Biracial Children
      • Intellectual development: Birth to four years
      • Racial awareness: Early childhood
      • Self-concept: Scholars
      • Racial identity: Adolescents
      • Mixed-race heritage: Adults
   4. Raising Biracial Children
   5. Conclusions from the Literature Review
6. INCIDENCE OF MIXED-RACE MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE
   1. Introduction
   2. Incidence in the United States of America
   3. Incidence of Mixed-Race Marriage in South Africa
   4. Incidence of Mixed-Race Divorce in South Africa
7. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
   1. Introduction
   2. Questions
   3. Qualitative Research
   4. The Study
   5. Sample
   6. Data Analysis
8. CASE NUMBER 1 – MOHAMMED AND RONELLE: AN ASIAN/WHITE FAMILY
9. CASE NUMBER 2 – JACK AND TINA: A WHITE/BLACK RELATIONSHIP
10. CASE NUMBER 3 – CLIVE AND MINNIE: THREE GENERATIONS OF MIXED MARRIAGES
11. CASE NUMBER 4 – LEON AND ESTHER: A WHITE/BLACK INTERRACIAL MARRIAGE
12. CASE NUMBER 5 – ED AND ELLEN: FOUR GENERATIONS OF MIXED MARRIAGES
13. CASE NUMBER 6 – JOHAN AND BELINDA: WHITE/COLOURED MIXED MARRIAGE
14. CASE NUMBER 7 – THOMAS AND BELLA: A WHITE/BLACK INTERRACIAL MARRIAGE
15. RESULTS OF THE RESEARCH
    1. Introduction
    2. General Results
    3. Specific Results
    4. Conclusion
16. DISCUSSION OF RESULTS AND CONCLUSION
    1. Introduction
    2. Theories: Prejudice and Discrimination
    3. Theories: Interpersonal Attraction
    4. Previous Research: Mixed-Race Marriage
       • Who marries out?
       • Spouse selection
       • Adjustment
       • Societal attitude towards mixed marriage
       • Attitude of extended family
    5. Identity Development: Mixed-Race Children
    6. Divorce
    7. Conclusions
       • Causes of interracial relationships
       • Adjustment patterns
       • Child raising practices
       • Racial identity
       • The extended family
       • Legislation and the political environment
    8. Limitations of the Study
    9. Directions for Future Research

• REFERENCES
• APPENDIX A: MEDIA COVERAGE OF INTERRACIAL RELATIONSHIPS: 1993-1994
  1. Introduction
  2. Articles
  3. Conclusion
• APPENDIX B: NEWSPAPER CARTOONS
• APPENDIX C: QUESTIONNAIRE
• APPENDIX D: LETTER TO THANDI MAGAZINE
• APPENDIX E: ADVERTISEMENT IN THANDI MAGAZINE

Read the entire dissertation here.

Empire’s progeny: The representation of mixed race characters in twentieth century South African and Caribbean literature

2006-01-01
355 pages
Publication Number: AAT 3249543

Kathleen A. Koljian
University of Connecticut

A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Connecticut, 2006.

This dissertation is an examination of the portrayal of mixed race characters in South African and Caribbean literature. Through a close reading of the works of representative Caribbean [Derek Walcott, Michelle Cliff, and Jamaica Kincaid] and South African authors, [Bessie Head, Zoe Wicomb, and Zakes Mda] my dissertation will construct a more valid paradigm for the understanding of mixed-race characters and the ways in which authors from the Caribbean and South Africa typically deploy racially mixed characters to challenge the social order imposed during colonial domination. These authors emphasize the nuanced and hierarchical conceptualizations of racialized identity in South Africa and the Caribbean. Their narratives stand in marked contrast to contemporary models of ‘hybridity’ promulgated by prominent post-colonial critics such as Homi Bhabha and his adherents. In this dissertation, I hope to provide a more historically and culturally situated paradigm for understanding narrative portrayals of mixed race characters as an alternative to contemporary theories of ‘hybridity’. Current paradigms within post-colonial theory are compromised by their lack of historical and cultural specificity. In failing to take into account specific and long-standing attitudes toward racial identity prevalent in particular colonized cultures, these critics founder in attempts to define the significance of the racially mixed character in postcolonial literature. Bhabha, for example, fails to recognize that the formation of racialized identity within the Caribbean and South Africa is not imagined in simple binary terms but within a distinctly articulated racial hierarchy. Furthermore, Bhabha does not acknowledge the evolution of attitudes and ideas that have shaped the construction and understanding of mixed-race identity. After a brief survey of the scientific discourse of race in the colonial era, and a representative sampling of key thematic elements and tropes in early colonial literature to demonstrate the intersection of race theory and literature, close readings of individual narratives will demonstrate the limitations of current models of ‘hybridity’ and illuminate the ways in which individual authors and texts are constructed within (and sometimes constrained by) long-standing and pervasive discourses of racialized identity.

Table of Contents

• Introduction: Empire’s Progeny
• “A Small Corner of the Earth”: Bessie Head
• “Colouring the Truth”: Zoe Wicomb
• Birthing the Rainbow Nation: Zakes Mda’s Madonna of Excelsior
• The “Mulatto of Style”: Derek Walcott’s Carribean Aesthetics
• “Only Sadness Comes from Mixture”: Clare Savage’s Matrilineal Quest
• Xeula and Oya: Jamaica Kincaid’s Autobiography of My Mother
• Conclusion
• Works Cited

Read a preview here.
Purchase the full dissertation here.

A new paradigm of race: Visit to Brazil prompts the question: Can mixing everyone up solve the race problem?

Bloomington Herald-Times
2004-08-29
Courtesy of: Black Film Center/Archive
Indiana University

Audrey T. McCluskey, Director Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center
Indiana University

If Tiger Woods lived in Brazil he would not have had to coin the word “Cablanasian” to describe the multiracial mixture of caucasian, black, and Asian that makes up his lineage nor face derision from those of us who thought he was trippin’ (being silly, unreal). As my husband and I saw on a recent trip, in Brazil race-mixing is the rule, not the exception, with the majority of its 170 million people being visible incarnates of the slogan that officials like to tout: “We’re a multiracial democracy. We’re not white, or black, or Indian, we’re all Brazilians.”

Skeptical, but being swept along by the stunning beauty of the country and its people, I did begin to wonder if (contrary to learned opinion) Brazil had solved its race problem by just mixing everyone up. British scholar Paul Gilroy recently said that Brazil and South Africa – a country that I also visited recently and will invoke later – present “a new paradigm of race” that is more subtle and flexible than the U.S.’s old “one drop” (of black blood makes you black) rule that equates whiteness with mythical purity…

Read the entire article here.

Winnefred and Agnes: The Story of Two Women

Independent Publishing Group
September 2002
288 pages, Cloth, 5 1/2 x 8 1/2
6 B/W Photos, 1 Chart, 1 Map
ISBN: 9780795701139 (0795701136)

Agnes Lottering

This is a rare, possibly the first, first-person account of being part of the group of mixed-race families who came into existence at Ngome in the province of KwaZulu-Natal when, in the late 19th century, well-to-do British and Irish traders took Zulu wives and adopted Zulu cultural practices, including polygamy. The author recounts her life and that of her mother in this true account of a Zululand family whose lives were touched in equal measure by tribal belief and Christianity, healing herbs, magical birds, and the tokeloshe, a mischievous creature surrounded by myth and sexual innuendo. It is also a tale of betrayal, grand passion, bewitchment, abuse, and the triumph of love. Part love story and family saga, part social history, it is above all a uniquely South African tale.

Agnes Lottering was born in Ngome Forest in 1937. Due to financial and other constraints, she never completed her schooling. Yet she is a gifted storyteller, telling her tale with freshness and authenticity. She lives in Durban, South Africa.

‘No Such Thing as a Mulatto Slave’: Legal Pluralism, Racial Descent and the Nuances of Slave Women’s Sexual Vulnerability in the Legal Odyssey of Steyntje van de Kaap, c.1815-1822

Fiona Vernal
Department of History
University of Connecticut

Slavery & Abolition
Volume 29, Issue 1
January 2008
pages 23 – 47
DOI: 10.1080/01440390701841034

In 1815, a contentious case came before the Court of Justice in the Cape Colony. Steyntje Van de Kaap, a creole slave, claimed manumission for herself and four children based on her status as a concubine. Harkening back to the Dutch period at the Cape, her suit resurrected a little-known 1772 statute, which, upon the death of slave owners, granted freedom to their concubines and any children from such unions. So indicative was the case of sexual relations at the Cape that one contemporary observer declared that the outcome could threaten one-third of the local slave property, while a Privy Councilor in England who heard the case on appeal, predicted grave consequences if the case should set a precedent. The protracted suit became enmeshed in the nineteenth-century struggle between slaveholders, abolitionists and colonial administrators at the Cape, and in Great Britain. On the eve of amelioration in British colonies like the Cape, Steyntje’s case demonstrated how white paternity and the status of concubine became legal grounds for freedom. This article explores how one woman’s sexual relations with her masters transcended the boundaries of her personal life to challenge the local system of matrilineal descent, to complicate the issue of consent in slave-master sexual relations, and to invoke the worst fears of slaveholders as they confronted a new imperial legal regime interested in reforming slavery.

The New Colored People: The Mixed-Race Movement in America

New York University Press
1997-03-01
224 pages
ISBN: 9780814780725

Jon Michael Spencer (Yahya Jongintaba), Tyler and Alice Haynes Professor of American Studies and Professor of Music
University of Richmond

foreword by Richard E. Vander Ross

In recent years, dramatic increases in racial intermarriage have given birth to a generation who refuse to be shoehorned into neat, pre-existing racial categories. Energized by a refusal to allow mixed-race people to be rendered invisible, this movement lobbies aggressively to have the category multiracial added to official racial classifications.

While applauding the self-awareness and activism at the root of this movement, Jon Michael Spencer questions its ultimate usefulness, deeply concerned that it will unintentionally weaken minority power. Focusing specifically on mixed-race blacks, Spencer argues that the mixed-race movement in the United States would benefit from consideration of how multiracial categories have evolved in South Africa. Americans, he shows us, are deeply uninformed about the tragic consequences of the former white South African government’s classification of mixed-race people as Coloured. Spencer maintains that a multiracial category in the U.S. could be equally tragic, not only for blacks but formultiracials themselves.

Further, splintering people of color into such classifications of race and mixed race aggravates race relations among society’s oppressed. A group that can attain some privilege through a multiracial identity is unlikely to identify with the lesser status group, blacks. It may be that the undoing of racial classification will come not by initiating a new classification, but by our increased recognition that there are millions of people who simply defy easy classification.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Foreword by Richard E. van der Ross
• Preface
• Introduction
• ONE: The Rainbow People of God
• TWO: The Blessings of the One-Drop Rule
• THREE: The Curses of the Amorphous Middle Status
• FOUR: Thou Shalt Not Racially Classify
• Postscript
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index