- Sandra Laing
Sandra Laing (born 1955 Piet Retief), is a woman who was born to white parents but classified as "black" during the
apartheid era inSouth Africa .Early life
Sandra was born in Piet Retief, a small conservative town in apartheid South Africa. Both Sandra's parents and all her grandparents were white, yet Sandra had dark skin and frizzy hair. Her two brothers were also white. Sandra's parents were both members of the National Party and supporters of the Apartheid system.
During apartheid, schools were segregated, however since both her parents were white she was sent to an all white school. Her parents hoped that as she got older she would get lighter, however instead she grew darker and her hair became more tightly coiled. At boarding school she was shunned by the other school mates because of her skin color.
Legal battles
When she was 10-years-old the school authorities expelled Sandra and she was escorted by two police officers from the school. Her parents fought several legal battles to have her declared white but no school would accept to enroll her. Her father underwent a blood tests for paternity in the 1960s. The results confirmed what both her parents already knew--that he was indeed the father.
Later years
Since she was shunned by the white community Sandra's only friends were the children of black employees. At age 15 she would elope with a black man to
Swaziland . Her father threatened to kill her and broke all contact with her. She remained estranged from her family. She did however manage to track down her mother in a nursing home shortly before her mother died in 2000. Her mother unfortunately had lost her memory after a succession of strokes. A book called "When She Was White" by Judith Stone reports that Sandra's mother, Sannie Laing, did remember Sandra and was happy to see her. Sandra's brothers, both of whom are still alive, had no contact with Sandra at the time the book was written.External links
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/2944922.stm 'Black Afrikaner' story to become film]
* [http://www.geocities.com/kempcountrymen/sandralaing.htm Sandra laing]
* [http://www.amazon.com/dp/0786868988/ When She Was White: The True Story of a Family Divided by Race] Judith Stone ISBN 0786868988
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYZyvxpsCjQ Journeyman Pictures Documentary Video of Sandra Laing]
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