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During an interview with Breakfast club's hosts, South African Grammy winner Tyla's team were quick to shut Charlamagne Tha God down after asking her to clarify whether she is black or colored. When Charlamagne asked the question, Tyla turned to her publicist who swifty told Charlamagne to ask a different question.
Late last year, Tyla found herself in controversy after trying to explain the difference between colored and black. Tyla is referred to as colored because she is of Zulu, Irish and Indian descent. She was trying to make people understand that colored in South Africa means something different from America.
The discourse was sparked again when a social media user posted a picture of Travis Scott and Tyla, stating that Tyla was the first black woman Travis has been seen with. South Africans on X were quick to say that Tyla isn't black but she's colored. This is a difference between South African and African American culture because historically, “colored” has a negative meaning, compared to in South Africa where it is used as an identifier of people who are not white but mixed race.
“Over time, “colored” came to refer to mixed race South Africans, but this is controversial because of anti-miscegenation laws. So you have biracial and multiracial groups being designated as “colored” but this is a malleable designation that during the apartheid years and shortly after was fraught with both legal and social challenges,” Sybil Roberts, Director of African American and African diaspora studies at American studies said to the Hill.
Social media took the question that was asked during the interview was meant to be a race bait, intended to cause controversy, but her team encouraged the hosts not to insist on the question in an attempt to avoid more discourse and debate on social media.
