Is "non-white" politically incorrect in South Africa?

Question

My sociology tutor claims that the word "non-white" is associated with apartheid values, and has requested us not to use it in essays. Do you agree with this? Some of the authors of the articles that I have been reading (e.g. Jeremy Seekings from the sociology department at the University of Cape Town) freely use this word, without inverted commas. If you agree with my tutor, with what do you propose to replace the word? My tutor suggests replacing it with the phrase 'people of colour'. In my last essay, one of my sentences reads: "Apartheid has also resulted in certain locations, those which were historically a non-white area, providing poor opportunities when compared to other locations." Should I change that to: "those which were historically an area of colour"? Would people understand what exactly is "an area of colour"?

Answer 1

Yes, in current times, non-white is politically incorrect in South Africa. The term was socially constructed by the oppressors as a means to create a vivid human-social schism and ensure that the "non-whites" or "others" knew their place at all times. It doesn't seem derogatory, however, it was and it is at least there. If you ever get to speak with people who have experienced apartheid, then you will fully understand what the term "non-whites" meant to them and how it was manifested on a daily basis. Note that some of those forces still exist today particularly in the form of economic, legal, and social inequality realities.

*My background is Zambian and American, and I've lived and traveled extensively to different parts of the world. I enjoy being fully immersed in cultures and experiencing different places from a local perspective as much as I can.