While crossing the taxi rank at Cape Town station this morning, one of the guys yelled: "Hey! Abelungu!"
It's only since my regular forays with Habitat for Humanity that I've discovered that abelungu means "white people" in Xhosa (for your interest, the singular is umlungu), because when you're working gangs of kids follow you around shouting it.
Because I recognised the word and the fact that I was the only umlungu in the vicinity I answered, which I think surprised the yeller. Unlike the word amaBhulu (which is Xhosa for Boer or Afrikaner), abelungu/umlungu has no negative overtones. It's just a catch-all word.
If I went to that same taxi rank and yelled: "Hey! Black people!", would the response be the same? Should I be as offended and annoyed as I am when someone whispers: "Hey, girly" in a queue? I don't find being identified by my race offensive. I find being labelled because of it wrong and aggravating. Does allowing one label let all the other labels in?
4 comments:
I would find it offensive to be identified by my race in THIS manner, in the same way that I find it offensive when strangers in the street call out comments about my height or other bodily characteristics. It is simply not the done thing. You don't make personal comments about strangers to their faces.
i don't find all labels offensive. i wouldn't find 'white person' offensive, but the same can't be said for 'girlie'. girlie insinuates that i'm not a grown, mature woman, but a girl, which i'm not. it's condescending.
What an odd situation to find yourself in. You handled yourself well.
you know whats so interesting is that in mozambique "malungu" means white person, i love it when you can see the common roots of language comming through.i would love to know what the root word and language actually was here
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