Simple Common Sense

As Darwin and Wallace’s theory suggests, more creatures in a population are born than can survive. This is the struggle for existence. So when some 10.000 Chinese decides to settle elsewhere - in this case South Africa - the colonialists must react. That’s pretty fair isn’t it? First they reacted with discrimination under apartheid which gave them very little liberty to earn decent money or have decent jobs. This also reflected their societal status, and respect was a word that wasn’t heard of for very long. Now, 17 years after the racist apartheid system ceased, the Chinese South Americans have won the rights to be classified as ‘Black’.

Now what is really strange, is the classification of Asians. People from Korea, Taiwan and Japan were categorized as ‘White’. But, no no, Chinese are ‘Black’. Weird? Then think about it again, and correct your impulse to ‘extremely lame’! Might even ferocious, I could argue.

Marcel Berlins, from Guardian, recalls a trip to South Africa in the 1960s, where the Chinese were still under very strict restrictions, but the Japanese were seen as ‘white’: “Hardly anyone at the time had the faintest idea how to distinguish between Chinese and Japanese people, even supposing they were aware that the latter, legally speaking, were now Caucasians. But what if a newly whitened Japanese person was treated as though they were Chinese? A team of government officials was sent out to explain to puzzled restaurant owners and other service providers that the east Asian-looking gentlemen soon to enter their premises were to be served politely rather than turfed out unceremoniously. It caused great confusion at the time, but was clearly successful in business terms.”

My first thought was, how does this benefit the Chinese, does it make any difference, and hpw does this shit work? Well, apparently, the motive was financial. By being part of the (’luda’cris) black label, the Chinese gets access to various black economic empowerment schemes available to the victims of apartheid. Great life.

My last comment won’t be any anthropological nonsense on why this is normal in South Africa, or why this is even possible to take place now-a-days. No, I want to quote The Yardbirds’s song called ‘Mister, You’re a better Man than I’, as I believe it’s more clever than what I can come up with right now: Could you condemn a man, If your faith he doesn’t hold? Say the colour of his skin, Is the colour of his soul? Or could you say if men, For king and country all must die? Then Mister you’re a better man than I, Yeah You’re a better man than I

All pictures and illustrations above are taken or made and copyrighted by Christian Halsted ®