The Apartheid Period: A Time of Tensions and Terrible Hairstyles
In the mid-20th century, South Africa was ruled by a system of racial segregation known as apartheid. This period was marked by widespread discrimination against black South Africans, including the denial of basic civil rights and opportunities.
But amidst the tensions and turmoil of apartheid, there were also moments of absurdity and hilarity. Here are a few of the most memorable:
The ‘Nearly White’ Category
Under apartheid, there were four official racial categories: white, black, colored, and Indian. However, as South African comedian Trevor Noah has pointed out, there was also a fifth, unofficial category: “nearly white.”
This category was reserved for people who were of mixed racial background but were deemed light-skinned enough to pass for white. It was a bizarre and arbitrary classification, but it had real consequences for people’s lives and opportunities.
The ‘Pencil Test’
One of the ways that the apartheid government enforced racial categorization was through a test known as the “pencil test.” This involved sticking a pencil in someone’s hair and seeing if it stayed in place, indicating that the person had “kinky” hair and was therefore non-white.
Yes, you read that right. The government was actually using pencils to determine people’s racial identities. It’s a wonder they didn’t just start using magic eight-balls.
The ‘Bantu Education’ System
The apartheid government believed that black South Africans were inferior and should be kept separate from whites. One of the ways they enforced this separation was through the “Bantu Education” system, which provided separate and unequal education for black students.
The curriculum was designed to reinforce the idea that blacks were intellectually inferior and deserved to be in menial jobs. But perhaps the most ridiculous aspect of the system was the subject of “practical arithmetic,” which taught students how to count things like cows and chickens. Why bother with algebra and calculus when you can learn to do basic accounting for your livestock?
The ‘Kaffir Chicken’ Scandal
Finally, no discussion of the absurdity of apartheid would be complete without mentioning the infamous “Kaffir chicken” scandal. In 1965, a white woman named Gwen Anderson wrote a letter to a Cape Town newspaper complaining about the quality of the chicken she had received from her black servant.
Anderson wrote that the chicken was “tough and sinewy” and referred to it as “Kaffir chicken,” using a derogatory term for black people. The letter sparked outrage and protests, with people accusing Anderson of being racist and insensitive.
Ultimately, the “Kaffir chicken” incident became a symbol of the absurdity and cruelty of the apartheid system. It was a time of unimaginable injustice and suffering, but it also produced moments of dark humor and bizarre absurdity. And if we can’t laugh at the ridiculousness of our own past, then what can we do?