Book review 14:  Coloured, How Classification Became Culture Tessa Dooms & Lynsey Ebony Chutel

Classification Became Culture–Now it’s time for conversations 

Why Dooms and Chutels’s Coloured is a book every South African must read!

Growing up in a predominantly coloured high school, I was often curious about coloured culture. I remember hearing the claim that ,“coloured people don’t have a culture” however, I was never convinced. My interactions and lived experiences have shown me the opposite. Like all communities, coloured people have a rich culture shaped by history, resilience and identity. To truly understand it, we must revisit South Africa’s past and fully immerse ourselves in it. 

In Coloured, How Classification Became Culture, Tessa Dooms and Lynsey Chutel dismantle the myth that coloured people lack heritage. They trace how the apartheid era created divisions that still linger today and reveal how classification gave rise to cultural identities. 

For me, this book is not just for coloured people–it is for everyone. It challenges the  uninformed assumptions that continue to deepen division and reminds us that colonial rule fragmented identities in ways we are still reckoning with. This is more than a book, it is a call for transformative conversations in our communities. 

The authors reference the Population Registration Act of 1950–a cornerstone of the apartheid regime designed to racially classify every South African as White, Black, Coloured and Indian. Its  purpose was to formally separate based on physical appearance, descent and social acceptance. In its wake, cultural identities were compromised, distorted and in many cases lost.

Today, the divisions created by the Act still distance us from unity and amplify resentment–creating wars within us rooted in colonial rule. Isolation has stripped us of humanity and we struggle to find common ground. The most disheartening aspect  is how long it has taken us to have conversations about reclaiming coloured identities? 

The book is that call to action. And it is one we must urgently answer.

Book 14 in 2025.

A very insightful, powerful and informative read.

Phiwe Mncwabe is pan-African storyteller, blogger and founder of Botlhale Hub Afrika.

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