A fascinating new book by journalist Judith Stone reveals the full extent of the psychological traumas Sandra endured. Abraham became furious with Sandra for running away with a black man and refused to meet her again. Today, the skin that caused her so much trouble as a child remains unlined and unblemished. 'My father told me I was white. [5] She was expelled and escorted home by two police officers. When She Was White, The True Story Of A Family Divided By Race by Judith Stone (Miramax Books, 8.99). Billed as a true story of love, betrayal and reconciliation, the working title gets to the point: Skin. The move precipitated a new, desperate phase in her life, when David abandoned her before their son, Prins, was born in March 1980. Sandra's back was soon covered with deep sjambok cuts; blood ran in streams from her head. 'She said I must bring him, but that I should come in the middle of the day so my father wouldn't know. It was a step into another world, from ruling caste privilege to the oppression and poverty of townships. Save up to 50% on Women's Clothing when you shop now. Find the best deals on Women's Jewelry from your favorite brands. Sandra's inclination toward black people continued, and when she turned 14, she met a black man, Petrus Zwane, who was 20 years older than her. The couple resettled and had two children, Henry and Elsie. Cast: Sophie Okonedo (Sandra), Alice Krige (Sannie), Sam Neill (Abraham). More recent studies put the number slightly higher, at 11 per cent. Her brothers also were high yellow but light enough to pass for white. [4] Her family treated her as white, the same as their sons Adriaan and Leon, and together they all attended the Dutch Reformed Church. Sandra Laing (born 1955) is a South African woman notable for appearing as and being classified as coloured by authorities during the apartheid era, due to her Skin colour and hair texture, although she was the child of at least three generations of white ancestors. "My parents were good people and they loved me very much." Other students often called her names like "dirty," "blackie," and "frizzhead" and passed derogatory comments. She is from South Africa. In an angry phone call, Leon told Sandra she had broken their parents' hearts. Two policemen escorted the 10-year-old home. Is it possible Sandras mother was getting love from a undeniably-black man on the side? Judy Stone, a contributing editor of Oprah magazine, expects to publish a biography next year and Anthony Fabian, a British producer and director, has a $5m (3.12m) contract with Miramax to make the film. Afraid that her kids would be taken away from her because of the racial difference, Sandra applied to get herself reclassified to black. I just listened.'. . Sandra Laing is the epitome of a South African mixed-race woman, whose embarrassed family (having probably passed for "White") preferred to disown. 'You mustn't ask for any more money. They believed she was "Coloured", a term for mixed-race people. During the holidays, Sandra worked with her mother in the family's general store. Both he and Sannie signed an affidavit swearing that they were Sandra's biological parents. Shop the best selection of deals on Beauty now. Obviously the fact that a child who was obviously of non-white ancestry was born to conservative Afrikaner parents during the period of apartheid is a story which elicited some interest in South Africa at the time, and the talk of the town very literally. Many people have tried to contact Laing's brothers over the years . The heartbroken Afrikaner teenager had barely settled into her new life when the apartheid forced her and Zwane to leave their home. 'But Ma looked up and I saw that she still loved me.'. The consent submitted will only be used for data processing originating from this website. Some of our partners may process your data as a part of their legitimate business interest without asking for consent. or debate this issue live on our message boards. Her father threatened to kill her for the marriage and broke off contact with her. A performance by Zulu dancers drove the dog wild and Sandra even joined in the laughter. Throughout her life, despite her many flawed choices, she has served her nation as a symbol of all that was irrational and inhumane about apartheid. No one told her that her mother had died until after the funeral, and Sandra is convinced that was because her brothers didn't want her there. Find the best deals on More Pets Supplies from your favorite brands. after Sandras birth god only knows. Is is possible that the Laings were substantially more than 5% non-white? Laing was the subject of the 2008 biographical dramatic film Skin, directed by Anthony Fabian, which won numerous awards. If youre in the Los Angeles Skin screens next month at the Pan African Film Festival before getting wider release. In other words, in a population of millions where mean non-White ancestry is ~5% a substantial number in absolute terms of individuals with discernible ancestry will exist. Sandra Laing and Petrus Zwayne. Sandra had 7 siblings: Brian George LAING and 6 other siblings. As Afrikaners, they had been indoctrinated in the Boer belief that to be white was pure and that people of mixed race were unstable and less intelligent. 'He was quiet, and he didn't beat me.'. Sitting in the back garden of her new house in Leachville, a maze of recently built estates fringing farmland east of Johannesburg, the bulky woman with the crew cut does not much resemble the svelte, toffee-coloured youngster who was photographed hugging a tall, white woman three decades ago. Sandra and Sannie reconciled and shared time together before Sannie's death in 2001. At the age of 16, Laing eloped to Swaziland with Petrus Zwane, a black South African who spoke Zulu. Her only friends were the children of black employees. First, it is important to remember that Afrikaners are an old settler population, most of their ancestors arrived in South Africa in the 18th century or earlier. Twitter. On the other hand, the normal assumption is that curly hair is dominat to straight, so the frizziness of Sandras hair is not easy to explain. The psychological toll of her traumas has been immense, say friends, and Sandra, 47, is taciturn, the eye contact fleeting, the voice low. , who is 1/4 black. Patches of Sandra's hair fell out, and when it grew back, it was as curly as ever. Sandra and her mother were finally reconciled not long before the older woman's death. Sandra Laing (born 26 November 1955) is a South African woman who was classified as coloured by authorities during the apartheid era, due to her skin colour and hair texture, although she was the child of at least three generations of ancestors who had been regarded as white. Douglas Laing-whose Rock Island blend I recently reviewed and liked -issues an annual Christmas edition of its Big Peat blended malt, which is a cask strength edition. Save up to 50% on Trending when you shop now. Genetic throwbacks were not unheard of but if there was ever a wrong place and wrong time for this phenomenon, it was apartheid South Africa. One day, in the pine forest behind the Laings' house, Petrus kissed her. He and Leon blamed their sister for turning her back on the family. Sandra Lee LAING was born on month day 1964, at birth place, Massachusetts, to James Archibald LAING and Barbara Ann LAING (born GUTTERSON). If Sandras father was a black man, she would be majority non-white, if one trusts the records which suggests significant non-white ancestry for her mother. Under such a system, a dark-skinned Sandra grew up with no sense of color and only wished to be happy and play with her friends. Taking their cue from the state, the community punished the family: ignored at church, refused ice cream at shops, rejected by nine schools, cursed. I didn't answer him. Sandra Laing and Johannes Motlaung. advocates for a healthy discussion about the instances of violence, abuse, sexual misconduct, animal cruelty, abuse etc. A few years ago I thumbed through a book which detailed Laings tumultuous life,When She Was White: The True Story of a Family Divided By Race. A few years ago I thumbed through a book which detailed Laings tumultuous life, When She Was White: The True Story of a Family Divided By Race. Not surprisingly the this individual will express an intermediate phenotype. But in those cases the parents themselves were often of mixed ancestry (or at least one was). He ran a public campaign to have Sandra reclassified, but the family had already garnered unnecessary attention from people around them by then. In 1955, an Afrikaner couple gave birth to dark-skinned child with frizzly hair. Her life is an extraordinary tale of a search for identity in a system built on race and prejudice, where home, school, job and sex life was demarcated by skin colour. And through a quirk of genetics, ten-year-old Sandra was about to become another potent symbol of a nation built on race and prejudice. Sandra still hopes that, one day, they will meet. If you extrapolate this out to 4-6 loci you see that a full expected range may emerge. Sandra recalled: People whose parents are of these two populations (e.g., Barack Hussein Obama) can be expected to be, on the loci controlling this trait. Sannie sat with her eyes downcast. After ~100 generations the ancestry should be approximately equally distributed across the population, but far less so on the order of 5-15 generations. By Catherine O' Brien for MailOnline Updated: 13:23 EST, 19 December 2008, Although both Sandra Laing's parents were white South Africans, she looked black. Her extended family lived near her place, and she often hosted family gatherings where everyone reveled in the sacred bonds of togetherness and love. Sandra's brothers, said to be right-wing, still shun contact. The newspaper helped Laing find her mother, who was in a nursing home by that time. 'The visit lasted only ten minutes. Despite their objections, Sandra returned to see Sannie several times. Her problems were far from over, as when she went to seek treatment in hospital after being wrongly suspected of having cancer, the authorities took away her children and fostered them out. The Upsetting World of Primitive Brain Surgery. ancestry was confirmed through genealogical records. A heartbroken Sandra revealed: "He [Leon] said that after I left home, my mother and father were never happy again. Find the best deals on Gear from your favorite brands. But the Sandra Laing case is different. Ancestry kits could identify the proportion of non-European ancestry they have; one would expect if they were full-siblings and the offspring of their legal parents that they would all be mostly European, with a substantial non-European fraction. Sandra and her brothers are still alive. At the age of 10, she was expelled from her all-white school, and the authorities' decisions based on her appearance . 2022 Urban Woman Magazine | All rights reserved, Growing up as a young girl in Nigeria, it was almost inevitable to observe that expectations of marriage and children were placed on women. Therefore, identifying ones race was a huge thing during that time in the country. [From left to right] Sannie, Sandra, and Abraham Laing. During this time, she felt more comfortable interacting with black people and even learned Zulu. Shop the best selection of deals on Fitness now. That is until she was 10 years old and the South African government stepped in and claimed she was "colored," a term used during the apartheid. Her mother told her not to worry about it, but still Sannie sent off for a bottle of hair straightener which burned like battery acid. She kept asking where I was staying and if I was OK. We and our partners use cookies to Store and/or access information on a device. Deals and discounts in Bakeware you dont want to miss. But in those cases the parents themselves were often of mixed ancestry (or at least one was). | Source: YouTube.com/Our Life. The color of Sandra's skin was never discussed by her parents and never an issue in her small rural community until she went away to boarding school at age 6. Sandra breaks down at her father's grave. The question here is what is the comparable likelihood of Sandra Laings mother having an affair with a black man. 'I just felt more comfortable with them.'. They had three children together and she was able to reclaim her first two; all are now grown and with families of their own. Then, the government changed the law that a child had to be of the same race as their parents. James was born on May 16 1936, in Quincy, Norfolk Co., Massachusetts. However once she started school, it became obvious that Sandra was no normal child; due to her dark skin, Sandra was believed to be black. Her father underwent a blood-typing test for paternity in the 1960s, as DNA tests were not yet available. Well, we know that individuals who are 25% African in ancestry can pass as white. Sandra Laing as a little girl. We have estimated Sandra Laing's net worth, money, salary, income, and assets. A healthy discussion about the instances of violence, abuse etc save up to 50 % on 's! Zwane, a term for mixed-race people same race as their parents left to right Sannie... Up and I saw that she still loved me. ' become another potent of... 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