By Rorisang Modiba
South African artist Tyla, real name Laura Seethal, has posted on social media about her racial identity and the controversy around her description of herself as “coloured”.
Tyla was asked about her identity on Breakfast Club Power 105.1 FM, but her management asked her not to answer and asked the hosts to move on to the next question.
Despite people labelling her as black or coloured, Tyla said her heritage is proudly black, Zulu, Irish, Mauritian-Indian, and coloured.
Tyla said she is considered coloured in South Africa but understands the term may have a different meaning in other parts of the world.
Describing herself as coloured when she was in the US to collect her Grammy award for Best African Music Performance caused controversy – it is considered among the most offensive words for describing a black person because of the country’s era of racial segregation.
“[It] was used to describe anybody who was not white, which may imply that to be white is ‘normal’ or default,” says the charity Show Racism the Red Card.
“If we consider it, every human has a skin colour, so technically we are all coloured.”
“Race is classified differently in different parts of the world,” Tyla wrote.
“I don’t expect to be identified as coloured outside of South Africa by anyone not comfortable doing so because I understand the weight of that word outside of SA.
“But to close this conversation, I’m both coloured in South Africa and a black woman,” Tyla posted.
The 22-year-old singer’s latest music video for “Jump” with American rapper Gunna got six million views on YouTube just nine days after its release.
Pictured above: Tyla.
Source: Instagram
