USA: Tyla, South African Mestizo Singer Insulted.
Caught in a culture war, South African musical sensation Tyla is at the center of an online debate over the word she uses to describe her racial identity – “mixed race".
Cultural Divergences
Before her rise to fame, the 21-year-old made a video proudly talking about her mixed-race heritage on TikTok.
In it, she arranges her hair in curls, in the traditional Bantu style, using beads, with the words “I am a mixed-race South African” emblazoned across the clip like a badge of honor. The South African music star says this means she “comes from many different cultures".
It's a simple video meant to share part of yourself with your audience. But instead, his racial identity fanned the flames on the internet, especially in the US where Americans see the word “mixed race” as an insult, unlike the South African community Tyla comes from, who consider her part of their culture.
In South Africa, "mixed race”, is a distinct official identity recognized legally and, for the record, in the CPLP, too. However, Americans consider the word an insult and deny mixed race people the right to use it.
One example, among many, is the case of a US user of the X network, formerly known as Twitter, who posted the following:
“We’re not going to call her mixed race here, and if she demands it personally, her career will be over before it starts.”
“If it is trying to conquer the American market, it cannot use that word here. Let me use it somewhere else.”
USA vs South Africa
In the US, the word dates back to the Jim Crow era, when segregationist laws were instituted in Southern states to oppress black people after the abolition of slavery. Drinking fountains, bathrooms and bus seats were marked as “whites only” or “only for mestizos“. This painful history of racial segregation mirrors that of South Africa, before the end of white minority rule in 1994.
Apartheid was a political system with a racial hierarchy privileging white South Africans. The Population Registration Act of 1950 required people to be registered in one of four racial categories – white, black, Indian or mixed race. Another law designated residential areas according to race.
Michael Morris, head of media at the South African Institute of Race Relations, says the history of the mixed-race community is complex, but “is essentially South African“. The community has disparate origins but was united under the rules of apartheid.
“Because it was a mix of black, white and Asian, it was forged in the geography of Southern Africa in a way that no other [community] could claim it,” Morris said.
But because of this mixed heritage, the community was sometimes ridiculed and ignored in a system obsessed with categorization.
Marike de Klerk, the late wife of the last president of apartheid South Africa, once said of the mixed-race community in relation to the regime's segregation laws:
“They are the people left behind after the nations were separated. They are the remains.”
From this complicated history, people like Tyla who identify as mixed race have woven a rich cultural tapestry. According to South Africa's latest census, mixed-race people make up 8,2% of the population.
The Mestizo Cultural Carpet
Lynsey Ebony Chutel and Tessa Dooms, co-authors of the book “Mestizo: How Classification Became Culture“, grew up in Eldorado Park, in Johannesburg, a historically mixed-race city. They describe the people there as an eclectic mix of appearance, language, accents and heritage.
When Chutel went to Columbia University in New York, she found that her identity, as well as Tyla's, were the topic of conversation after introducing herself as a mixed-race woman from South Africa on her first day. She was not well received by her colleagues; her roommate took her aside and told her that she had made the American students uncomfortable.
She was forced to defend her own identity, origin and culture while trying to placate others' discomfort.
“I understand it’s an insult, but that’s not the only story here.”
She said, with a deep sigh, warning that it is dangerous for Americans to try to be the arbiter when it comes to blackness, because there is no one way to be black, no one way to be mixed race.
Dooms agrees and says that, even before the Tyla controversy, defending his community was constant:
“We are fighting for the legitimacy of what we have built. What we created, the culture we created.”
For those in America who are now focused on Tyla, she said:
“To have the audacity to question someone’s self-identification and replace it with your own – it’s completely ridiculous. It’s not progressive.”
For Morris, there is no room for criticism:
“It's just about Tyla, saying who she is and what she wants to be called. This is no one else’s business.”
Tyla's Rise
Carissa Cupido, a South African radio presenter who grew up in Mitchell Plains, Cape Town in a predominantly mixed-race area, said that despite the classification being imposed on her, she “embraced, accepted and celebrated” being mixed-race.
Cupid interviewed Tyla two years ago and said her accent, natural hair and energy are “tangibly mixed race”. Seeing Tyla's meteoric rise to fame gave him goosebumps, he added. She is further popularizing the Amapiano sound, itself a South African mix of styles including: jazz, hip-hop, soul and house music with a slower beat.
Please accept YouTube cookies to play this video. By accepting you will be accessing content from YouTube, a service provided by an external third party.
If you accept this notice, your choice will be saved and the page will refresh.
-------------------------------
Accept YouTube cookies to play this video. By accepting, you will be accessing content from YouTube, a service provided by third parties.
If you accept, your choice will be saved and the page will refresh.
Tyla's song “Water” became the first song by a solo South African musician to appear on the Billboard Hot 100 chart since Hugh Masekela's “Grazing in the Grass” in 1968.
“Often, when I talk about her, when I’m broadcasting live, I have to hold back tears.”
Since she never found herself represented in the media while growing up. Now, in her 30s, she finds that representation in the form of Tyla.
“I’m excited for the next generation of mixed-race girls to see Tyla and draw inspiration and hope from her representation.”
“As for Americans, don’t insult someone’s way of life just because you don’t understand it,” she said.
Other mixed-race South African musicians had already achieved international fame, such as rapper AKA, who was murdered earlier this year, but none reached Tyla's status.
With a new album due out early next year and a Grammy nomination, Tyla will likely continue to dominate the news and spark more debate about her identity for some time to come.
Conclusion
In a globalized society, like ours, Tyla's case highlights the need for understanding and respect for diverse cultural identities. Her narrative highlights the importance of self-determination in defining identity, highlighting that it is a personal matter and not subject to external judgment.
This situation only shows the importance and need to combat American cultural chauvinism and its inflexible perspectives that, at times, take a unilateral stance in interpreting terms and experiences that diverge from their own realities.
This South Africa vs USA cultural clash highlights the need for open dialogue, with respect for various cultural identities, to promote deeper understanding between global communities.
Article written by Danai Nesta Kupemba, for BBC News, translated and adapted, by Mais Afrika.
Do you agree with Americans when they say that mestizos cannot use the word mestiza to describe themselves? We want to know your opinion, do not hesitate to comment and if you liked the article, share and give a “like/like”.
Picture: © 2023 Annie Reid
