Kaffir (ethnic slur)

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Kaffir, kaffer or kafir, which once was a blanket term for black southern Africans (see Kaffir (historical usage in southern Africa)), is now utilized exclusively as an ethnic or racial slur. The original meaning of the word was 'heathen', unbeliever or infidel, from the Arabic Kafir.^[1] Portuguese explorers used the term generally to describe tribes they encountered in southern Africa, probably having misunderstood its etymology from Muslim traders along the coast. European colonists subsequently continued its use.^[2] Although used often inoffensively between the 16th and 19th centuries, as racial tensions increased in 20th century South Africa, its use became more racially slanderous than just a general word to describe a race of people.

The term was mostly used in South Africa, Northern Rhodesia and Southern Rhodesia.

Contents 1 South Africa 2 The Americas 2.1 Jamaica and Suriname 3 Afghanistan 4 Examples 5 See also 6 References 7 External links

South Africa

In the heart of South Africa, during Apartheid, the term was used to refer to black people, and is still regarded as highly offensive (in a similar way to the word "nigger"). Use of the word has been actionable in a South African court since at least 1976 (Ciliza -v- Minister of Police and Another 1976 (4) SA 243) under the offence of crimen injuria: "the unlawful, intentional and serious violation of the dignity of another" (W.A. Joubert, 1981; The Law of South Africa, VI, p251-254).

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, during his stay in South Africa, often used the term "Kaffir" to refer to the native Black Africans. For example, he once wrote in Indian Opinion, "The Boer Government insulted the Indians by classing them with the Kaffirs."^[3]

The Americas

Jamaica and Suriname

In Jamaica and Suriname, the term is used exclusively by people of Indian (Hindustani) ancestry to refer to the Surinamans and Jamaicans of African ancestry. That use was presumably derived from the Urdu/Hindi and originates from Arabic but has the same Dutch/South African usage. The word is mainly used in its Hindustani form kaffir or kaphar.

Afghanistan

The northeastern Afghan province of Nurestan was once known as Kafiristan. In 1895, following conquest by Emir Abdur Rahman Khan, the population of Kafiristan Kafiri were forcibly converted to Islam and renamed Nuristani (The Enlightened Ones).

The derivation of the name Kafiristan, meaning Land of the Kafirs in Persian, is disputed. Some historians claim that the name derives simply from the name of the indigenous inhabitants, the Kafiristan Kafiri but the most commonly accepted etymology of the name is that it derives from Land of the Infidels or Land of the Unbelievers, Kafir being a derogatory Persian term for infidels.

Examples

Some indicative examples:

• Kaffir is the title of a 1995 hit song by the black Johannesburg Kwaito artist Arthur Mafokate. The lyrics say, "I don't come from the devil, don't call me a kaffir, you won't like it if I call you baboon". This song is considered one of the very first hits of the genre [Kwaito], and is said to have set precedent for the post-apartheid generation struggle of combining dance music with the new phenomenon of freedom of expression in [South Africa]. ^[4]. The lyrics are as follows:

Boss, No. Boss, don’t call me a kaffir. Can’t you see I am trying my best. Can’t you see I am moving around. I don’t come from hell. You would not like it if I called you a baboon. Even when I try washing up, you still call me a kaffir. Boss, don’t call me a kaffir.

The term “Boss” was traditionally required in apartheid South Africa for Black employees to call White employers. Arthur’s song is seen as seminal because it is essentially the first popular hit to bring to the forefront the significance of the black population voicing discontent over white cultural policies and dominance. However, the song has also been criticized because, as Sandile Memela wrote in his South African blog “Ancestral Whisperings,” the cultural popularity of the term “kaffir,” spurred by the Arthur’s hit song, has led the term to be acceptable to call other people, white or black, by it, such as the usage of the word “nigger” in American cultural society, especially in rap music. ^[5].

• Kaffir Boy is the title of Mark Mathabane's autobiography, who grew up in the township of Alexandra, travelled to the United States on a tennis scholarship, and became a successful author in his adoptive homeland.
• In the film Lethal Weapon 2, South African criminal Arjen 'Aryan' Rudd (played by Joss Ackland), his right hand man Pieter 'Adolph' Vorstedt (played by Derrick O'Connor) and their followers frequently call(s) detective Murtaugh (Danny Glover) a "kaffir". His partner detective Riggs (Mel Gibson) is also referred to as a "kaffir-Lover". At the end of the movie when, Riggs and Murtagh kill off the bad guys, Murtagh says they were "de-kaffirnated."
• In the film adaption of The Power of One "kaffir" is regularly used against blacks, notably by the bigoted character, Sgt. Bowmann (played by Clive Russell).
• In the film Operation Delta Force South African extremists such as Nash (played by Joe Lara) frequently taunt, former Delta force operative Tipton (played by Ernie Hudson) calling him a "kaffir".
• In the film Dangerous Ground "kaffir" is regularly used against blacks
• In the film Catch A Fire The phrase "He's a cheeky kaffir" is used by a white referring to a black character
• South African cricket players complained that they were racially abused by some spectators during a December 2005 Test match against host country Australia held in Perth. Makhaya Ntini, the only black player in the team, was taunted with the word "kaffir". Other players were subjected to shouts of "kaffirboetie"; an Afrikaans term which means "brother of a kaffir". Ntini said he could not tell whether the abuse was coming from Australians or ex-South Africans living in Perth.
• The Kaffir de Gaffir Mine is a location found in the Scrooge McDuck comics. Strangely, despite the negative connotations of the word, the name of the mine has not changed as of The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck.
• In the film Blood Diamond Danny Archer (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) calls Solomon Vandy (played by Djimon Hounsou) a kaffir in an angry exchange after Solomon goes to desert him, causing Vandy to attack Archer.
• In the documentary The Leader, His Driver and the Driver's Wife, Anita Meyer tells the filmmakers she calls their cat a kaffir cat, "because it's black".
• In the film The Wild Geese Peter Kotzee (played by Hardy Kruger) explains to his fellow officers 'we have blacks in South Africa. We call them Kaffirs which is just like you calling them niggers. I don't particularly like them but I don't like killing them'.
• In the Warren Ellis's graphic novel series Strange Killings in the story Strange Killings: Strong Medicine, An Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging sympathiser/supporter is aiding C18 to spark a race riot in London (since the UK played a part in the downfall of the Apartheid era/AWB) by murdering local black kids stating "That all it took...was a few Kaffir boys!"
• South African soccer boss Irvin Khoza caused a furore in February 2008 when he asked a white journalist to "Stop thinking like a kaffir"

See also

• Coolie, ethnic slur
• Colored
• Kafir
• Kaffir lime

References

External links

• Kaffirs in Sri Lanka: Descendants of enslaved Africans

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