![]()
Quick background information -- In South Africa where Lesley Ann is from, any mixed raced person of any racial combination is "Coloured". Some Coloureds are mixed with black, but she is of Indian and European descent
![]()
![]()
Despite admitting to not being black, Lesley would often suggest herself to play black parts![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
https://twitter.com/LesleyAnnBrandt/status/727610903575691264She spends most of her response going in off topic detail about the history of Cape Coloured people but ignores
what she was actually being criticized for -- which is her acknowledging she is not black (which she actually does in this post) but wants to play black roles. What was a simple criticism she made into a confusing matter to frame myself and my friends as ignorant, whom she of course now needed to "educate" out of the goodness of her heart.
Cliff notes
- Says she recently found out she is distantly part Khoisan through DNA testing
- Claims that Khoisan people are not considered black (they are) but uses being part Khoisan as proof that she is part black similtaneously
- Claims the black community accepts her as black because she gets mistaken for black in America
- Says she's not considered black in South Africa because she's Indian and white (...)
- She says she and her family are from the African continent which makes her African
- She says she wasn't suggesting herself to play Baartman, even though the Twitter user she responded specifically asked her what she thought about taking on the role
- Points out that Storm from X-Men is Kenyan, where there are mixed people (which doesn't change the fact that Storm is not mixed)
- She says she hopes we aren't cyberbulled because that was not her intention in posting this, but does not bother to block/censor our usernames
Some South Africans have brought these tweets to my attention and my response is with kindness and an open heart. Ladies, the unique cultural fabric of South Africa and it's people is hard to grasp at times but I'll attempt to explain as best as I can. While America and South Africa seem very similar in its civil rights movements and race relations, there are HUGE differences. So I'll address this as per your tweets.Firstly, saying some one needs to get Saartjie Baartman's story right hardly says that I'm in any way able to play her. While it would be a dream role for any South African actress, Saartjie Baartman was Khoi, (one of the native light skinned tribes in South Africa who are not considered black even today but who would be considered black in America). They are a First Nation people who have very specific facial features and no one but a Khoi actress should even attempt telling that story. Period. In my opinion, not every actor/actress of color can play every ethnicity, but particularly historical figures as is the case with Saartjie Baartman. Hers is a South African story but more specifically, it is a Khoi story.
I actually recently explained to my manager why I could not audition to play Winnie Mandela in an upcoming tv mini series. She is Xhosa, I am not. In fact, I suggested that beautiful South African actress, Terry Pheto should be who they hire. She would be perfect. Secondly, I'm South African, a women of color who is mostly thought to be a light skinned black American here in the US and it is a beautiful thing because I am accepted, for the most part, as fellow woman of color and as member of a community who have roots, history and a voice regardless of the different mixes they have within their own community.But back home, in South Africa, I'm not black. The government specifically classifies me as not black. Because of my accent, my features, where I was born, my spoken languages (English and Afrikaans) and skin color. Unlike America, in South Africa, if your father is black and your mother is white, you are not black. If your mother is black an your f
ather is asian, you are not black , if your mother is indian and your father is black, you are not black. If American's who are mixed go to South Africa, you wouldn't be seen as black either...I'm sure you get the picture.
You are what South African government considers to be Coloured, a mixed raced group in South Africa. It's hard to grasp I know. I had no idea the world knew nothing about my people until I moved out of South Africa. I also had no idea that you could be mixed and still be considered black. I was 17 so forgive that ignorance at the time. I have British, Indian, Dutch, Spanish and I recently found out through DNA testing, I have Khoi, which is very common for my people and which is personally exciting to know that my ancestors are in fact tied to Africa. As I mentioned, Khoi is a first nation tribe, as is the Khoisan, the Khoi Khoi and the Griqua. As is the case with Aboriginals in Australia, the Moari in New Zealand and Native American Indians in the US who are also first nation people. So basically these are the native tribes, ( Khoi, Khoi Khoi, Griqua, Khoisan), of South Africa who the Dutch first met when they landed on South African soil. But in the eyes of the government both pre apartheid and post apartheid, they are not considered black and are barely recognized in our history books. You see, there is to this day, a race classification, historically imposed by the old apartheid government for my mixed people. That classification is called Coloured as I mentioned earlier. It is spelt differently and has a different meaning than it does in America. This mixed race group of South Africans are made of black African tribes mixing with Indian, Dutch, Filipino, British, German, Chinese, Iranian, Italian, (the list goes on) AND with each other. During the slave period, South Africa never exported slaves like the rest of Africa. In fact the country welcomed political prisoners from around the world who started mixing with Dutch and British settlers, local South African tribes (Khoi, Khoi Khoi, Khoisan, Griqua and eventually the Xhosa, Zulu, Sotho, Tswana, Pedi, Venda, Ndebele, Tsonga, Pondo Swati) and each other, and then their children mixed and so it went on, giving birth to my community. While I don't really look to Wiki for information usually, this page is a good source to help give you a more in depth perspective. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coloured
We are considered to be one of the most genetically diverse race groups in the world. It is why Hollywood shoots in South Africa so much, that and the exchange rate. We literally look like the rest of the world. But to this day we continue to be treated as second class citizens in our own country. Children are unable to go to university based purely on their race , jobs are not available to the Coloured community, based purely on their race and the quoters imposed on businesses in South Africa and 21 years on, my people, the same people who marched, who were killed, who protested along with our black South African brothers and sisters and who supported our beloved Madiba, Nelson Mandela, and his dream of free country, well, they are still in exactly the same place they were all those years ago. Not white enough in the old South Africa and not ancestrally black enough in the new South Africa. To give you an idea of how this all works, if you are apply for a job, you specify on
your application if you're black white or black or Coloured. If you open a bank account your ID Number ( Social Security number), says whether you're white, black or Coloured, which like your social security number, you need for mortgage applications, driver licenses, loans, credit etc.
Which brings me back to why I am responding to your tweets. Educating people on my country and its unique people is important to me because well, there is an entire generation of mixed raced kids in my home country who have no voice, no hope, no future, IF South Africa continues with a corrupt ANC government who are not working in the best interest of ALL its country's people. This is not the same Mandela lead ANC government and I know the state of affairs in South Africa, the government fraud and racist legislature was not what he stood for and was not his vision for our country. There was a promise made that once we ended apartheid, once we gained our democratic freedom as a country, we would be welcomed as part of the majority. Sadly, that has not happened. So supporting a documentary that educates the world on the struggles of my people and their history is exactly that and has nothing to do with American history, this is South African history.
Thirdly, Africa is a continent. I am African not just by ancestry but by location. Just like America is a location and people are still considered American. I was raised on the African continent as was my parents. my grandparents, my great grandparents and their parents. And in Africa ladies, not just South Africa, we come in all shapes and sizes, with different physical features, different languages, different cultures and variety of colors. It's a beautiful thing and I celebrate it as a proud South African. As Archbishop Desmond Tutu so perfectly said, we are the rainbow nation. Fourthly, regarding your "casting couch" comments, they are not only ludicrous and completely out of line, but quite sad that is all I'll say on the matter.
Finally, I do not want any of these women to be bullied on social media, I do not condone that behavior and it is not the point of addressing any of this. So again, with kindness, my hope is that these ladies, and you, all walkaway from this exchange little wiser on South Africa and that we should celebrate what makes us different but also what brings us together as citizens of they world. Ps Storm is Kenyan born I think. They have mixed people there too. 😉#spreadlove#notokeyboardcourage#proudlysouthafrican#proudlyafricanborn🇿🇦❤️
(SOURCE)
