Benedict Cumberbach

[wilki]

Anyone heard the new one, mixed heritage ?

 

[sonson]

I worked in South Africa a few years ago and the mixed race lads took real offence at being referred to as black. They wanted to be known as coloured. They usually spoke Africaans as their main language too.
If people think it's complicated here (which I don't think it is), it's a minefield out there.

Aye, coloured and black over there has it's own context. Coloured people are descended from slaves who were shipped to SA from all ower the place-Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, various other places, as part of Dutch and then British Imperial trade. Because of the tradition of naming slaves most of them don't know where their ancestors are even from, and many of them are very rootless and fucked up communities as a result and have never been welcomed in either Apartheid SA, becuase they wern't white, or in post Apartheid, because they wern't particularly represented in the settlement at the time which was considered as a White/Black issue . Even though some of them share dark skin they are very different from the black peoples of South Africa who are historically indigenous to the country. It's a pretty unique situation.

RE the original topic, Cumberbatch is young enough to know better. I have sympathy for gadgies who were told coloured was the right term to use way back, but I don't think it's ever been considered ok in BC's lifetime.

 

[castoff]

It's ridiculous that the point he was trying to make in support of actors from ethnic minorities getting more opportunities has been totally overshadowed - even undermined to a degree.

Agreed, its a real shame. Too many people going on personal crusades and being offended on behalf of others in order to take the moral high ground nowadays.