(This article was originally published on Marketingweb a few months back. It drives home some key points that we've been trying to emphasise here on Bruin-ou.com since the site was launched, that the Coloured community is unjustifiably neglected by corporate South Africa and in so doing, is incapable of properly advancing in South African society today. We'd love to hear your views on this article.)
Fragmented, stereotyped and misunderstood, South Africa’s 4.4 million strong Coloured market is as big as the white market in South Africa (9.1% of the population vs. 9%) and yet so many marketers have made the mistake of overlooking opportunities within this previously disadvantaged group.
This is a shortsighted, given that the Coloured market makes up 63% of the total population in the Western Cape (Stats SA 2009), and therefore it is no surprise that so many brands that are successful elsewhere fail to connect with consumers in this province. To understand this complexity, one just has to start by looking at issues of Coloured identity. A debate rages around the meaning of the term "Coloured" - does it refer to a group of people lumped together in the past, and therefore share the same history, or does it rather refer to certain characteristics? It would seem that defining the term "Coloured" is no longer as one dimensional as many people believe it to be. As a result there have been books written about it, movies made and a number of blogs and social networking sites dedicated to the issue.
The Cape Coloured market comprises a diverse group of people. These individuals differ in terms of mindsets and lifestyle. Since 1994 this market has evolved and become highly complex, and is not the single homogenous group that many believe it to be. The Coloured market acknowledges their differences and thus there is a strong need for them to differentiate themselves based on their lifestyle and mindsets.
Strategy and research company OIL has conducted an in-depth study in an attempt to provide marketers with a deeper understanding of the dynamics within the Coloured market in the Western Cape. The study used a mixture of methodologies, including ethnographic research backed up using AMPS/TGI data; and insights gained from social networking sites. Aside from looking at the consumer behaviour and mindsets of this market, this cutting-edge study highlights key insights into this market and, most importantly, offers vital untapped marketing opportunities for brands.
In this study, OIL identified four segments within the market that aim to improve marketers' understanding of the Coloured market and help them create effective brand communication strategies. The segments are The Escapers, The In-Betweeners, The Achievers and The Silver Spooners.
The Escapers, referred to within the community as "gam", are a segment defined by the legacy of Apartheid. They are characterised by a so-called ghetto lifestyle with a tendency to escape their everyday reality, living day-to-day and with a very short-term focus. Escapers are loud and proud of who they are, and embrace the Cape Coloured stereotypes - from kombuistaal to passion gaps
The In-Betweeners are an aspirational segment; those who often find themselves caught between two worlds - the upper and the lower income communities. Although they are aspirational, they are not willing to compromise their lifestyle for long-term success. They have a medium focused approach by showing aspiration through the conspicuous consumption of branded goods. They embrace the term "Coloured" and focus on the positive associations of Coloured culture - from having a great sense of humour to having fun like no other culture.
The Achievers are defined by their success through hard work and determination. The majority of this segment comprise individuals who have fought through the struggle of Apartheid and are aware that their lifestyle has not come easily to them. There is a continued drive for excellence and success, especially with their children. Although they are successful, they still remain grounded in their community and proud of their background.
The Silver Spooners are the children of the upper income Achiever parents and live an affluent lifestyle. This elite segment makes up a very small percentage of the Cape Coloured population and has not been exposed to mainstream Coloured culture. They, therefore, cannot relate to the Coloured culture as much as other segments.
Even though there are various segments, these individuals share certain commonalities. Cooking and food are considered important elements for bringing a family together. There are a lot of Malay influences with the food prepared by both Christians and Muslims. Coloured families are very close and often have more than the immediate family living in a household. They also tend to live within close proximity to each other, as family is considered to be a strong support pillar.
Religion also plays a very important role and there is great emphasis placed on teaching children their religious values.
There is a shared desire for the younger generation to show status through wearing branded sneakers and "pimping" old cars, as opposed to driving the latest luxury vehicle. There is also a strong interest in English soccer teams, far more so than local teams. This can be seen with the English soccer branded paraphernalia within each household.
Due to the lack of research into this market it is not surprising that there are so many misconceptions and stereotyping surrounding the Coloured community. This market has the spending power of over R60 billion a year; therefore this is an opportunity that marketers should not ignore.
Showing posts with label colored. Show all posts
Showing posts with label colored. Show all posts
Tuesday 24 August 2010
Wednesday 13 January 2010
This Colour Thing in Namibia
Many years ago I was asked, “Who are you?” This was before Independence and I understood my credentials were being questioned. My reply was, “First, I am a human being, and secondly I am a Namibian. Last, and least important, I am coloured”.
Now I am 40 and take the time to sit back and look back at the mileposts during my life. It is also the time to look forward to the end of my days, and consider where I have gone wrong, and perhaps where I have made a meaningful difference. It is most definitely like sitting in an armchair and contemplating “in order to understand itself and mentally grasp its own activity, that of the mind.” After all, “to be able to look back upon ones life in satisfaction is to live twice.”
So in this last chapter I must also address mistakes that I have made in my feeble attempts at contributing to the nationhood of our beloved land. I have thought it unimportant where my family comes from, what their cultures and beliefs were, and often thought these were to be considered and ultimately rejected as part of their living in a past dominated by the racial classification given by the system of Apartheid.
Who I am is not dictated by our external environment, but rather by the internal. As humans we tend to blame our culture, society, government, employers and even our own families for things that goes wrong, but rarely give them credit for “our” achievements.
As time has passed I have gone from reading science fiction to more biographies on the historical figures in our history. (Imagine my surprise when I found out that Benjamin Franklin had already added a thought for the month in his “Poor Richard’s Almanac, and written advice to a newly establishing tradesman.☺)
Reading through these biographies, and accessing their quotes has made a dramatic impact on my life. Throughout my book, Smile My beloved Land, I have often put forward an argument to find that a similar proposal has been done by great men before me. I was not the first, and hopefully not the last, to have these great expectations form the human race.
Lastly, I address myself to the words of Albert Einstein, “He who cherishes the values of culture cannot fail to be a pacifist.”
Now I am 40 and take the time to sit back and look back at the mileposts during my life. It is also the time to look forward to the end of my days, and consider where I have gone wrong, and perhaps where I have made a meaningful difference. It is most definitely like sitting in an armchair and contemplating “in order to understand itself and mentally grasp its own activity, that of the mind.” After all, “to be able to look back upon ones life in satisfaction is to live twice.”
So in this last chapter I must also address mistakes that I have made in my feeble attempts at contributing to the nationhood of our beloved land. I have thought it unimportant where my family comes from, what their cultures and beliefs were, and often thought these were to be considered and ultimately rejected as part of their living in a past dominated by the racial classification given by the system of Apartheid.
Who I am is not dictated by our external environment, but rather by the internal. As humans we tend to blame our culture, society, government, employers and even our own families for things that goes wrong, but rarely give them credit for “our” achievements.
As time has passed I have gone from reading science fiction to more biographies on the historical figures in our history. (Imagine my surprise when I found out that Benjamin Franklin had already added a thought for the month in his “Poor Richard’s Almanac, and written advice to a newly establishing tradesman.☺)
Reading through these biographies, and accessing their quotes has made a dramatic impact on my life. Throughout my book, Smile My beloved Land, I have often put forward an argument to find that a similar proposal has been done by great men before me. I was not the first, and hopefully not the last, to have these great expectations form the human race.
Lastly, I address myself to the words of Albert Einstein, “He who cherishes the values of culture cannot fail to be a pacifist.”
Coloured issue can’t be ignored
28.12.2009
Marson Sharpley writes:
As a man of God I realize that I cannot afford the luxury of being so heavenly minded that I become earthly useless. There are three distinct types within the Colored community that I have come to be aware of, i.e. those who consider themselves to be more Black than White, those who consider themselves more White than Black and those who are simply Colored and that’s it!
In fact it has very little to do with skin pigmentation as much as it has to do with upbringing. Nevertheless, no matter what side of the racial divide they lean towards, Coloreds born in Africa are Africans who have the full right to be part of the action and have a piece of the cake. My previous article on this subject must not be viewed as an emotional tirade by what one newspaper termed “proud to be colored”.
No, this matter I intend rationally and pragmatically addressing through systematically forming a delegation of eminent Colored leaders to go and seek an audience with His Excellency the President of the Republic of Namibia. The intention here is not to be subversive, undermining or destabilizing.
The idea is to ensure that the status quo, which seems to be that Coloreds have to have leaders imposed on them because they do not have the ability and capacity to present their leaders, has to be stopped. The sense that the existence of Coloreds is ignored now has to come to an end because we are here and we are real.
We are members of both the ruling party SWAPO and some among us are members of the opposition parties. However, the argument I am pursuing and putting on the table goes beyond party political matters and directly to the very existence and representation of a specific minority group of people who also need to have leaders that they can culturally identify with who will be able to address their specific concerns as a distinct ethnic and cultural group.
The Colored community is made up of some of the best artisans and administrators in the country. Whilst the generalization of the love of strong liquor has established itself in the description of Coloreds, we are also intellectuals, revolutionaries, community activists, students, entrepreneurs, politicians, soldiers, civilian intelligence scientists, journalists, lawyers and doctors.
With this capability I together with otherlike- minded members of the Colored community realize that if we do not have national, political leadership in the RulingParty from our community, the exploitation of Coloreds will be automated. National political leadership status allows the individual(s) to have authority in the society and their community so as to be able to guide, organize and counsel the community or in this case the ethnic group.
This will help to see Colored youth as part of the security apparatus, the diplomatic corps and other strategic areasof governance such as security detail for even the Head of State, and even as drivers for Government VIPs. We want to see our unemployed matriculants in the army, the police force and other sectors where they can be trained so that they become contributors instead of merely maintaining an existence of being parasitic consumers.
We also need to see young people from the Colored community receiving bursaries to Cuba, Russia, USA, Europe and China. I would like to see Colored people also heading State Owned Enterprises and Parastatals. I am making this call in a bid to draw attention to the plight of an entire community that, if it does not have political representation to enhance and instill discipline, will in future breed a level of gangsterism through organized crime like Namibia has never imagined could exist within its borders.
A good example of this is what happened on the Cape Flats in South Africa as recently as 2004. The tendency has been to confine us to tenders and church activity in the hope that that will satisfy us and make us ignore the fact that we have been politically hijacked and systematically marginalized.
One of us is an Under Secretary in Cabinet or something like that, one of us is the Ombudsman, some of us are High Court judges, but who of us are going to be a Deputy Minister, a Minister, a Permanent Secretary, a Governor, a General in the army or a Commodore in the Navy?
Who of us as Coloreds is trusted enough to even be the DG of the civilian intelligence apparatus? If the requirement here is the ability to speak, read and write an indigenous language(s), then let us know so that we can study the language by living in the target language community. Should the main requirement be loyalty, patriotism, commitment and determination to see Vision 2030 realized, then vet us, do background checks, do IQ checks, but for heaven’s sake, stop marginalizing us as Colored people.
Please also understand that as a man of God and as a pastor, I am all things to all men just as the Bible requires, but my background will inform you that I did not just drop out of the sky as a pastor. Everyone in the ministry I lead with my spouse and many other pastors knows that I am raceless and do not tolerate any form of racism, tribalism or ethnic divisionist agendas.
In my interaction with many of you as my political leaders, I realized that many of you have no clue of some of us and where we come from and what our capabilities and experience is. Some of you have been blinded by your own prejudice and tribal arrogance to the point where you have forgotten that we all have minds to think and that we have all been on life’s journey and seen and heard enough to inform us as to what our status is.
Jesus Christ meets a woman at a well and he asks her for water, referring to his tiredness because of the long journey he has made. Metaphorically in the physical, but real in the spirit, the journey He refers to took him 4000 years to the point where He speaks to the woman at the well. Now that is the same with all of us as grown ups.
We have journeyed, politically, academically, spiritually and been around many places and many people. We are NOT VILLAGE FOOLS AND IMBECILES, we are NOT! I believe that there is a need for a Coloured People’s Convention (CPC) within the next three months before posts and positions are allocated. The aim of such a convention will not be to lament how we are being unjustly treated, but rather to identify and elect legitimate and acceptable Colored leaders who have the capacity to fully work for Namibia as a country and for the Coloured people.
Please note that any national leader, especially in the ruling party must be loyal to the party first and then serve the interests of the nation at large and then make sure that they represent their constituency, which is usually tribally and/or ethnically demarcated! That is a given!
However, my concern here is the lack of Colored representation in Government on a more political, national level. Let’s talk, let’s deliberate, let’s discuss, let’s debate and let us reach an amicable win-win situation where I like any other parent can be at ease in this beautiful, peaceful country knowing that my children’s future, like any other child is secure and not undermined just because of being Colored!
Marson Sharpley writes:
As a man of God I realize that I cannot afford the luxury of being so heavenly minded that I become earthly useless. There are three distinct types within the Colored community that I have come to be aware of, i.e. those who consider themselves to be more Black than White, those who consider themselves more White than Black and those who are simply Colored and that’s it!
In fact it has very little to do with skin pigmentation as much as it has to do with upbringing. Nevertheless, no matter what side of the racial divide they lean towards, Coloreds born in Africa are Africans who have the full right to be part of the action and have a piece of the cake. My previous article on this subject must not be viewed as an emotional tirade by what one newspaper termed “proud to be colored”.
No, this matter I intend rationally and pragmatically addressing through systematically forming a delegation of eminent Colored leaders to go and seek an audience with His Excellency the President of the Republic of Namibia. The intention here is not to be subversive, undermining or destabilizing.
The idea is to ensure that the status quo, which seems to be that Coloreds have to have leaders imposed on them because they do not have the ability and capacity to present their leaders, has to be stopped. The sense that the existence of Coloreds is ignored now has to come to an end because we are here and we are real.
We are members of both the ruling party SWAPO and some among us are members of the opposition parties. However, the argument I am pursuing and putting on the table goes beyond party political matters and directly to the very existence and representation of a specific minority group of people who also need to have leaders that they can culturally identify with who will be able to address their specific concerns as a distinct ethnic and cultural group.
The Colored community is made up of some of the best artisans and administrators in the country. Whilst the generalization of the love of strong liquor has established itself in the description of Coloreds, we are also intellectuals, revolutionaries, community activists, students, entrepreneurs, politicians, soldiers, civilian intelligence scientists, journalists, lawyers and doctors.
With this capability I together with otherlike- minded members of the Colored community realize that if we do not have national, political leadership in the RulingParty from our community, the exploitation of Coloreds will be automated. National political leadership status allows the individual(s) to have authority in the society and their community so as to be able to guide, organize and counsel the community or in this case the ethnic group.
This will help to see Colored youth as part of the security apparatus, the diplomatic corps and other strategic areasof governance such as security detail for even the Head of State, and even as drivers for Government VIPs. We want to see our unemployed matriculants in the army, the police force and other sectors where they can be trained so that they become contributors instead of merely maintaining an existence of being parasitic consumers.
We also need to see young people from the Colored community receiving bursaries to Cuba, Russia, USA, Europe and China. I would like to see Colored people also heading State Owned Enterprises and Parastatals. I am making this call in a bid to draw attention to the plight of an entire community that, if it does not have political representation to enhance and instill discipline, will in future breed a level of gangsterism through organized crime like Namibia has never imagined could exist within its borders.
A good example of this is what happened on the Cape Flats in South Africa as recently as 2004. The tendency has been to confine us to tenders and church activity in the hope that that will satisfy us and make us ignore the fact that we have been politically hijacked and systematically marginalized.
One of us is an Under Secretary in Cabinet or something like that, one of us is the Ombudsman, some of us are High Court judges, but who of us are going to be a Deputy Minister, a Minister, a Permanent Secretary, a Governor, a General in the army or a Commodore in the Navy?
Who of us as Coloreds is trusted enough to even be the DG of the civilian intelligence apparatus? If the requirement here is the ability to speak, read and write an indigenous language(s), then let us know so that we can study the language by living in the target language community. Should the main requirement be loyalty, patriotism, commitment and determination to see Vision 2030 realized, then vet us, do background checks, do IQ checks, but for heaven’s sake, stop marginalizing us as Colored people.
Please also understand that as a man of God and as a pastor, I am all things to all men just as the Bible requires, but my background will inform you that I did not just drop out of the sky as a pastor. Everyone in the ministry I lead with my spouse and many other pastors knows that I am raceless and do not tolerate any form of racism, tribalism or ethnic divisionist agendas.
In my interaction with many of you as my political leaders, I realized that many of you have no clue of some of us and where we come from and what our capabilities and experience is. Some of you have been blinded by your own prejudice and tribal arrogance to the point where you have forgotten that we all have minds to think and that we have all been on life’s journey and seen and heard enough to inform us as to what our status is.
Jesus Christ meets a woman at a well and he asks her for water, referring to his tiredness because of the long journey he has made. Metaphorically in the physical, but real in the spirit, the journey He refers to took him 4000 years to the point where He speaks to the woman at the well. Now that is the same with all of us as grown ups.
We have journeyed, politically, academically, spiritually and been around many places and many people. We are NOT VILLAGE FOOLS AND IMBECILES, we are NOT! I believe that there is a need for a Coloured People’s Convention (CPC) within the next three months before posts and positions are allocated. The aim of such a convention will not be to lament how we are being unjustly treated, but rather to identify and elect legitimate and acceptable Colored leaders who have the capacity to fully work for Namibia as a country and for the Coloured people.
Please note that any national leader, especially in the ruling party must be loyal to the party first and then serve the interests of the nation at large and then make sure that they represent their constituency, which is usually tribally and/or ethnically demarcated! That is a given!
However, my concern here is the lack of Colored representation in Government on a more political, national level. Let’s talk, let’s deliberate, let’s discuss, let’s debate and let us reach an amicable win-win situation where I like any other parent can be at ease in this beautiful, peaceful country knowing that my children’s future, like any other child is secure and not undermined just because of being Colored!
Marginalization of Coloureds must end
29.12.2009
Marson Sharpley writes:
WELL done people of Namibia, my fellow countrymen and women! We have to be proud of the manner in which we voted and behaved during the voting period. It is this that makes one proud to be Namibian!
Having said that, I want to advance an argument that I hope will become part of the future debates of our population as we strive to find the best-suited leadership in the political, economic and social sectors of our society. I believe that we need to examine and interrogate the demarcations we have accepted in terms of the roles that people are supposed to be filling in our society.
The Oxford dictionary describes or at least defines politics as the art and science of government or activities concerned with the acquisition or exercise of authority or government. The first point I would like to make and attempt to clarify is the fact that when we speak about “church”, “politics” and/or “society”, we tend to refer to these entities in the third person as though we who are referring to them are not part of them.
Church is the people, politics is the people and society is the people! The idea of addressing these entities as some nebulous concept detached from us is, in my opinion erroneous! I am a human being, a son to my biological parents, a brother to my siblings, a husband to my wife and a father to my children and then I am a Pastor of my ministry as ordained by God.
As a human being who ascribes Christianity as the foundational basis of my world view and philosophy of life, I am ordained to be a leader by God who instructs man to “take dominion” over creation. Making us all leaders in one-way or another. I must be frank at this point and make reference to my mixed raceness, my colouredness in our context. With all that I went through during apartheid in both South Africa and Namibia and after my direct confrontation of racism, I have come to the conclusion that prejudice, tribalism and even racism continue to batter my life like the angry unabated waves of the ocean against the rocks. It is this sense of marginalization that forces me to trace my existence and roots way beyond the physical anthropological stigmatization to the spiritual genesis of who I am.
Both science and the Bible inform me that as molecular and physically visible as I am, I was sound before that, and I was light before being sound and I was thought before being light and before thought you and I and everything were spirit. This then brings me to the realization and conclusion that I owe my existence to none other than God who created me.
The sense of socio-political marginalization and the existence of an invisible ceiling because of being “Coloured” or “mixed race” in Namibia in this day and age makes me, together with other like-minded intellectuals who ascribe to the Bible, come to the conclusion that there is no other recourse but to organize all “Coloured” or “mixed race” people in this country into an entity that cannot and will not be ignored just as the Hereros, Namas, Owambos, Afrikaners, Chinese and Damaras etc are doing right before our very eyes.
This is one of a myriad of reasons why I intend to vigorously campaign for the formation of a Coalition of Political Church Leaders. Oh yes, I voted as a resident of Windhoek rural and my vote remains influenced and informed by my revolutionary mileage and credentials.
However, I realize that my kind both racially and religiously are marginalized because of belly politics. Any church leader who does not have a political impact will have missed the plot because Christianity is about the establishment of the Kingdom of God that is in itself a political exercise. What is happening in our country for “Coloureds” is that we are being informed without it being said that we are so useless that we are unable to be a Governor, a Permanent Secretary, an Ambassador, a Deputy Minister, a Minister etc. I do not see the need to grovel and beg to be given a position in Government just because I am “Coloured”.
Oh yes, you must believe me when I say that I have a patriotism to Namibia that is well known and respected in both political and church circles. Why, I even encourage my pastors and congregations to sing the national anthem at the end of a church service. However, when I meditate and look and examine the modus operandi of the political sphere of Namibia, I realize that with all my eccentric patriotism, I belong to a group of people who are socially, politically and economically marginalized.
Forming a Coalition of Political Church Leaders is going to work at developing a socio-political culture that will truly celebrate and utilize the tribal and ethnic diversity of all participants and transcend all prejudices. As a Pan-Africanist I am clear of my political homes in every African nation I come to, but that does not make me blind and stupid not to see that as a “Coloured” in my home country, I am not taken seriously.
Besides being unfair, unrighteous and wicked, it is a devilish state of affairs that is no longer acceptable and calls for a serious response from my people, the “Coloureds”! Someone had the audacity and temerity to inform me the other day that “Coloureds” were not meant to be. As if they are a mistake.
Now if that is the thinking in certain circles, then I believe the time has come to address such rubbish and begin to make it clear to all and sundry that actually we are not a walkover of drunks, hooligans and whores! I am actually wondering why the Colored community is not realizing and responding to the injustice that is being perpetrated against us. I really and truly never ever thought that I would find myself having to speak up as a “Coloured”.
Having to write like this is to me an indictment against our democracy and what the constitution of the Republic of Namibia stands for! My only recourse as a political church leader is to stand on the Word of God, the Bible and to demand equality and full representation for Coloured people in Government.
Coloured people on the other hand have to realize that as a community, leaders need to be identified and they must take responsibility to organize the “Coloured” community so that we are not taken for granted as is currently the case.
The fact of the matter is that all the other races and ethnic groups in this country have clear leaders on both the political and traditional fronts of our society. Being Coloured is not being a sub-culture that is less African than any other African-born group of people, being Coloured is not a disgrace or a mistake, being Coloured does not mean being viewed as stupid and not caring!
Being Coloured is being a human being created in the image of God with aspirations, dreams and ambitions like all other African tribes, races and ethnic groups in Namibia and the African continent at large. It is this state of affairs that now warrants that I as a Coloured church leader should begin to address this matter as Esther in the Bible had to do for her people the Jews.
I am a loyal member of this society and of my political party! I together with many other worthy Coloured leaders need to be respected and recognized nationally in our nation instead of being made to feel like second-class citizens. I also realize that this stance I am taking will not please many people, but honestly, I am quite tired of pleasing people who are happy with me as long as I remain a good “house nigger”! Rubbish!
This is one debate I am prepared to die for so that my children do not despise who they are to the point of urinating on my grave one day because I did nothing when I should have. Yes, to you who have married or have offspring across ethnic and colour lines, your children will one day find themselves at a place they did not expect because they will be viewed as “coloured” and thus be treated as second class. Looking at the political party lists really was depressing because Coloureds have been clearly lost in the maze of it all!
However I must also add that many Coloured people’s world view has been tarnished and contaminated by the racism of apartheid. This is something that the Coloured community cannot deny as it needs to be addressed! It comes from the fact that the custodians of apartheid indoctrinated the mixed race people that they were superior to the Black people, but lower than the White.
Who am I? Am I a drawer of water and a hewer of wood? Am I just the filling in a sandwich? Am I a pen pusher who’s task it is to advance the comforts of the petty bourgeoisie? Who am I? Who are we?
Marson Sharpley writes:
WELL done people of Namibia, my fellow countrymen and women! We have to be proud of the manner in which we voted and behaved during the voting period. It is this that makes one proud to be Namibian!
Having said that, I want to advance an argument that I hope will become part of the future debates of our population as we strive to find the best-suited leadership in the political, economic and social sectors of our society. I believe that we need to examine and interrogate the demarcations we have accepted in terms of the roles that people are supposed to be filling in our society.
The Oxford dictionary describes or at least defines politics as the art and science of government or activities concerned with the acquisition or exercise of authority or government. The first point I would like to make and attempt to clarify is the fact that when we speak about “church”, “politics” and/or “society”, we tend to refer to these entities in the third person as though we who are referring to them are not part of them.
Church is the people, politics is the people and society is the people! The idea of addressing these entities as some nebulous concept detached from us is, in my opinion erroneous! I am a human being, a son to my biological parents, a brother to my siblings, a husband to my wife and a father to my children and then I am a Pastor of my ministry as ordained by God.
As a human being who ascribes Christianity as the foundational basis of my world view and philosophy of life, I am ordained to be a leader by God who instructs man to “take dominion” over creation. Making us all leaders in one-way or another. I must be frank at this point and make reference to my mixed raceness, my colouredness in our context. With all that I went through during apartheid in both South Africa and Namibia and after my direct confrontation of racism, I have come to the conclusion that prejudice, tribalism and even racism continue to batter my life like the angry unabated waves of the ocean against the rocks. It is this sense of marginalization that forces me to trace my existence and roots way beyond the physical anthropological stigmatization to the spiritual genesis of who I am.
Both science and the Bible inform me that as molecular and physically visible as I am, I was sound before that, and I was light before being sound and I was thought before being light and before thought you and I and everything were spirit. This then brings me to the realization and conclusion that I owe my existence to none other than God who created me.
The sense of socio-political marginalization and the existence of an invisible ceiling because of being “Coloured” or “mixed race” in Namibia in this day and age makes me, together with other like-minded intellectuals who ascribe to the Bible, come to the conclusion that there is no other recourse but to organize all “Coloured” or “mixed race” people in this country into an entity that cannot and will not be ignored just as the Hereros, Namas, Owambos, Afrikaners, Chinese and Damaras etc are doing right before our very eyes.
This is one of a myriad of reasons why I intend to vigorously campaign for the formation of a Coalition of Political Church Leaders. Oh yes, I voted as a resident of Windhoek rural and my vote remains influenced and informed by my revolutionary mileage and credentials.
However, I realize that my kind both racially and religiously are marginalized because of belly politics. Any church leader who does not have a political impact will have missed the plot because Christianity is about the establishment of the Kingdom of God that is in itself a political exercise. What is happening in our country for “Coloureds” is that we are being informed without it being said that we are so useless that we are unable to be a Governor, a Permanent Secretary, an Ambassador, a Deputy Minister, a Minister etc. I do not see the need to grovel and beg to be given a position in Government just because I am “Coloured”.
Oh yes, you must believe me when I say that I have a patriotism to Namibia that is well known and respected in both political and church circles. Why, I even encourage my pastors and congregations to sing the national anthem at the end of a church service. However, when I meditate and look and examine the modus operandi of the political sphere of Namibia, I realize that with all my eccentric patriotism, I belong to a group of people who are socially, politically and economically marginalized.
Forming a Coalition of Political Church Leaders is going to work at developing a socio-political culture that will truly celebrate and utilize the tribal and ethnic diversity of all participants and transcend all prejudices. As a Pan-Africanist I am clear of my political homes in every African nation I come to, but that does not make me blind and stupid not to see that as a “Coloured” in my home country, I am not taken seriously.
Besides being unfair, unrighteous and wicked, it is a devilish state of affairs that is no longer acceptable and calls for a serious response from my people, the “Coloureds”! Someone had the audacity and temerity to inform me the other day that “Coloureds” were not meant to be. As if they are a mistake.
Now if that is the thinking in certain circles, then I believe the time has come to address such rubbish and begin to make it clear to all and sundry that actually we are not a walkover of drunks, hooligans and whores! I am actually wondering why the Colored community is not realizing and responding to the injustice that is being perpetrated against us. I really and truly never ever thought that I would find myself having to speak up as a “Coloured”.
Having to write like this is to me an indictment against our democracy and what the constitution of the Republic of Namibia stands for! My only recourse as a political church leader is to stand on the Word of God, the Bible and to demand equality and full representation for Coloured people in Government.
Coloured people on the other hand have to realize that as a community, leaders need to be identified and they must take responsibility to organize the “Coloured” community so that we are not taken for granted as is currently the case.
The fact of the matter is that all the other races and ethnic groups in this country have clear leaders on both the political and traditional fronts of our society. Being Coloured is not being a sub-culture that is less African than any other African-born group of people, being Coloured is not a disgrace or a mistake, being Coloured does not mean being viewed as stupid and not caring!
Being Coloured is being a human being created in the image of God with aspirations, dreams and ambitions like all other African tribes, races and ethnic groups in Namibia and the African continent at large. It is this state of affairs that now warrants that I as a Coloured church leader should begin to address this matter as Esther in the Bible had to do for her people the Jews.
I am a loyal member of this society and of my political party! I together with many other worthy Coloured leaders need to be respected and recognized nationally in our nation instead of being made to feel like second-class citizens. I also realize that this stance I am taking will not please many people, but honestly, I am quite tired of pleasing people who are happy with me as long as I remain a good “house nigger”! Rubbish!
This is one debate I am prepared to die for so that my children do not despise who they are to the point of urinating on my grave one day because I did nothing when I should have. Yes, to you who have married or have offspring across ethnic and colour lines, your children will one day find themselves at a place they did not expect because they will be viewed as “coloured” and thus be treated as second class. Looking at the political party lists really was depressing because Coloureds have been clearly lost in the maze of it all!
However I must also add that many Coloured people’s world view has been tarnished and contaminated by the racism of apartheid. This is something that the Coloured community cannot deny as it needs to be addressed! It comes from the fact that the custodians of apartheid indoctrinated the mixed race people that they were superior to the Black people, but lower than the White.
Who am I? Am I a drawer of water and a hewer of wood? Am I just the filling in a sandwich? Am I a pen pusher who’s task it is to advance the comforts of the petty bourgeoisie? Who am I? Who are we?
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