A South African Cabinet member declared today that the classification “Hebrew” will hereafter be dropped from questions about race which persons entering the country are required to answer on a passengers declaration form.
The announcement was made by Jan de Klerk, Minister of the Interior, in a letter published in the South African Jewish Times. He added that “I understand that the term ‘Hebrew’ which has been on the form for a long time was originally introduced not to distinguish Jews from others but to cover within the white group Jews from Asia who could not be described as ‘Europeans,’ whom the Government did not wish to call ‘Asiatics.’ ” Europeans is the customary South African term for whites.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
