Mzansi Debates Tyla Identifying As Coloured And Not Black

Will the controversy over color in South Africa ever come to an end? The Rainbow Nation still struggles with the ghost of color and identity formation after decades of apartheid.

Singer Tyla from South Africa is now making headlines for this reason. She seems like the least likely topic when it comes to color and colorism, of course. However, a recent statement made by her sent many South Africans into a heated debate.

The singer-songwriter revealed in a recent tweet that she is mixed-race and that she presently identifies as colored rather than black. She refused to identify as black, which sparked discussion among South Africans. She was criticized by some for attempting to elude her “roots.”

Particularly during a period when South Africa was free of apartheid and black people had reclaimed their rights, others believed she was experiencing an inferiority complex by not identifying as black. However, some believed that since she had chosen to identify as a person of color, people should respect her choice and that it was her right to do so.

21-year-old South African artist Tyla has made it very clear that she doesn't identify as Black. Instead, she prefers to identify as colored because of her mixed race. Tyla's hit song “Water” peaked at 18 on Billboard charts. pic.twitter.com/dbpq6jdBC4

— Black Millionaires ® (@Blackmillions_) November 23, 2023

Tyla, incidentally, has had an incredible year thanks to the enormous popularity of her track “Water,” which peaked at number eighteen on the US Billboard chart.

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