Grocott's Mail
  • NEWS
    • Courts & Crime
    • Features
    • Politics
    • People
    • Health & Well-being
  • SPORT
    • News
    • Results
    • Sports Diary
    • Club Contacts
    • Columns
    • Sport Galleries
    • Sport Videos
  • OPINION
    • Election Connection
    • Makana Voices
    • Deur ‘n Gekleurde Bril
    • Newtown… Old Eyes
    • Incisive View
    • Your Say
  • ARTSLIFE
    • Cue
    • Makana Sharp!
    • Visual Art
    • Literature
    • Food & Fun
    • Festivals
    • Community Arts
    • Going Places
  • OUR TOWN
    • What’s on
    • Spiritual
    • Emergency & Well-being
    • Safety
    • Civic
    • Municipality
    • Weather
    • Properties
      • Grahamstown Properties
    • Your Town, Our Town
  • OUTSIDE
    • Enviro News
    • Gardening
    • Farming
    • Science
    • Conservation
    • Motoring
    • Pets/Animals
  • ECONOMIX
    • Business News
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Personal Finance
  • EDUCATION
    • Education NEWS
    • Education OUR TOWN
    • Education INFO
  • Covid-19
  • EDITORIAL
Facebook Twitter Instagram
Trending
  • High Court move will devastate food security for thousands
  • St Andrew’s College welcomes Tom Hamilton as 20th Headmaster
  • Hosts Kingswood take fourth spot in highly competitive water polo tournament
  • Swallows want to “smile again”
  • The stage is set for a scintillating season of football
  • Understanding gender-based violence
  • An invitation to join the water protests
  • Halala, Ntsika!
Facebook Twitter Instagram
Grocott's Mail
  • NEWS
    • Courts & Crime
    • Features
    • Politics
    • People
    • Health & Well-being
  • SPORT
    • News
    • Results
    • Sports Diary
    • Club Contacts
    • Columns
    • Sport Galleries
    • Sport Videos
  • OPINION
    • Election Connection
    • Makana Voices
    • Deur ‘n Gekleurde Bril
    • Newtown… Old Eyes
    • Incisive View
    • Your Say
  • ARTSLIFE
    • Cue
    • Makana Sharp!
    • Visual Art
    • Literature
    • Food & Fun
    • Festivals
    • Community Arts
    • Going Places
  • OUR TOWN
    • What’s on
    • Spiritual
    • Emergency & Well-being
    • Safety
    • Civic
    • Municipality
    • Weather
    • Properties
      • Grahamstown Properties
    • Your Town, Our Town
  • OUTSIDE
    • Enviro News
    • Gardening
    • Farming
    • Science
    • Conservation
    • Motoring
    • Pets/Animals
  • ECONOMIX
    • Business News
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Personal Finance
  • EDUCATION
    • Education NEWS
    • Education OUR TOWN
    • Education INFO
  • Covid-19
  • EDITORIAL
Grocott's Mail
You are at:Home»Uncategorized»Don’t be TWP!
Uncategorized

Don’t be TWP!

_Gr0cCc0Tts_By _Gr0cCc0Tts_June 14, 2011No Comments3 Mins Read
Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email

Are you TWP? I know that I certainly have been. I’ve been TWP in a nightclub, during a theatre workshop, and even in Extension 6 in Joza! I tell you, sometimes I’m just an embarrassment to my race when I become That White Person.

Are you TWP? I know that I certainly have been. I’ve been TWP in a nightclub, during a theatre workshop, and even in Extension 6 in Joza! I tell you, sometimes I’m just an embarrassment to my race when I become That White Person.

Don’t misinterpret TWPs as racists – they are in fact the exact opposite of racists. They are the kind of people who just embarrass themselves when trying to fit in with people of other races. Like “wiggers”, Eminem, or those middle-class schoolkids who think smoking dope makes them "a Rasta brother, maan".

After centuries of colonialism and bigotry executed by the white man, I think it is time for the scales to tilt in favour of some previously oppressed peoples. A bit of social equality, if you will. Look at the popularity of rap, reggae and RnB music these days: No longer are these genres just appreciated for being foreign and exotic to the pale faces, but now Akon and Beyonce albums are snapped up by white people as if they figured out that Britney Spears has no musical talent.

My most cringeworthy TWP moment occurred while I was slightly inebriated one night out, and I heartily greeted a friend in a nightclub. “Khotso! Khotso! How's it going, man!” Bla bla bla I rattled on. Only after calling him Khotso a few more times did I remember that his name is actually Tsego (and he politely humoured me and did not correct me in the heat of my TWP episode). In my defence, when he first introduced himself to me, it was by his nickname "Gogo" (pronounced like an insect in Afrikaans, not a granny in Xhosa) which my brain somehow regurgitated as Khotso on that fateful evening.

I felt really embarrassed and even though I realised my faux pas in time to apologise to him, it was too late. I had put my foot in it and become That White Person.

I have a number of other TWP tales, but they generally involve me speaking shocking Xhosa, or dancing to house music in the location as if I actually had Beyonce's booty (which is a growing trend among white young females I have observed – the dancing bit, not so much the dancing in the location).

So if you ever have a TWP episode and you really don’t know how to redeem yourself, I suggest that you make some kind of apology, and then humbly continue with whatever you are doing, because then at least the people you are potentially offending can have a good laugh at your expense – you probably deserve it.

Previous ArticleFunnies on the National Arts Festival Fringe
Next Article Homeless man found dead outside government offices
_Gr0cCc0Tts_

Comments are closed.

Tweets by Grocotts
Newsletter



Listen

The Rhodes University Community Engagement Division has launched Engagement in Action, a new podcast which aims to bring to life some of the many ways in which the University interacts with communities around it. Check it out below.

Humans of Makhanda

Humans of Makhanda

Weather    |     About     |     Advertise     |     Subscribe     |     Contact     |     Support Grocott’s Mail

© 2023 Maintained by School of Journalism & Media Studies.

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.