Co-creating Knowledge for Social Justice

REPAIRING THE HISTORICAL SILENCE OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN CAPE COLOURED CORPS

The South African Cape Coloured Corps officially came into existence during the First World War and was regarded as a colonial project. Despite the integral role these Coloured soldiers played in both World Wars and in South Africa’s subsequent military history, their participation has become marginalised and even forgotten. As a result, these Coloured soldiers have not received the recognition or honour earned by war veterans.

This paper critically analyses the suppressed history of the South African Cape Coloured Corps by examining their racialised identity as Coloured men. The racial classification of Coloured was created to divide people of colour as part of a divide-and-rule strategy and to facilitate social control in South Africa. The Coloured classification is, however, argued to be socially constructed and is complicated by experiences of hostility, inferiority, shame, and stereotyping. Furthermore, Coloured identity is burdened by the perception that persons with mixed ancestry have inherently negative traits. Since their identity cannot be separated from their silenced history as soldiers, they are caught up in continuous wounding.

By connecting their silenced history as part and parcel of Coloured identity, the talk argues that it is necessary to facilitate a recognition of that which is lost and may never return, thereby acknowledging their contribution and restoring dignity to the South African Cape Coloured Corps. Thus, by revisiting the history of the South African Cape Coloured Corps, we bear witness to their forgotten service and repair the historical silence.