Kaffir, or kafir, which once was a blanket term for black southern Africans (see South Africa Kaffir people), is now used exclusively as an ethnic or racial slur. The original meaning of the word was 'heathen'.

The term is mostly used in South Africa (where it is also spelled kaffer) and in the Caribbean, especially in Jamaica (where it is also spelled kaphar, kaphir, or kafari), by Jamaicans of Indian nationality or ancestry to refer to Jamaicans of African ancestry.

South Africa

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In South Africa the term is used to refer to black people and is 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).

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".

• 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 movie Lethal Weapon 2, South African criminal Arjen 'Aryan' Rudd (played by Joss Ackland) calls detective Murtaugh (Danny Glover) a "kaffir".

• 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 nigger". Ntini said he could not tell whether the abuse was coming from Australians or ex-South Africans living in Perth.

Jamaica

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In Jamaica the term is used exclusively by people of Indian ancestry to refer to the native Jamaicans of African ancestry. That use was presumably derived from the South African usage. The word is mainly used in its Hindustani form kaphar.

See also

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• Coolie, ethnic slur applied to Indians
• Colored
• Kafir
• Kaffir lime

Pejorative terms for people Ethnic slurs