.American actress, Amandla Stenberg recently faced a lot of online backlash. For the way she pronounces her South African Xhosa name. The young star has been accused of being “lazy” to learn how to correctly pronounce the African name. While her parents were accused of misappropriating it.
South Africans across the country then gathered on TikTok to discuss a video of the actress where she pronounces her name ‘incorrectly’. The star went viral last week after she was heard mispronouncing the word Xhosa during an interview.
As the actress explains to the interviewer that her name is South African and that it means “power” in Xhosa. For many who watched the video. It was quite disappointing to hear that she is not able to pronounce her name. Specifically with the traditional South African accent.
Amandla was then dragged for the way she pronounces her name.
A few weeks ago, local poet and human rights activist Ntsiki Mazwai went viral after slamming the newly crowned Miss South Africa Ndavi Nokeri for “twanging” her Venda surname.
While many people were quick to shut Ntsiki down. It appears that the pronunciation of black African names is an important talking point for many.
The video of her explaining the background of the Xhosa name has gone viral on TikTok. As many slam her for “failing to learn” how to pronounce the name correctly.
We must say, it was quite shocking to learn that the star was struggling to pronounce her name all these years.
In fact, blogger Nicole Narrates re-shared the video on the app and criticised the actress. By saying she “doesn’t have any interest” in learning how to say it.
Stenberg who evidently took note of the backlash. She has since headed online to share clips of herself. Learning how to say both her name and the word Xhosa the same way South Africans do.
By the looks of things, she may have seen some of Mzansi’s criticism. And decided to learn how to say the name in a manner that South Africans would approve of.
Two videos of the actress trying to say her name. With an African accent were shared on Twitter by gossip blogger Musa Khawula.
Amandla Steinberg teaches her fans how to pronounce her name and it’s South African origins. pic.twitter.com/k5dQKeS7p2
— Musa Khawula (@MusaKhawula) August 29, 2022
Though some appreciated the effort she put in pronouncing her name. Others advised her not to be forced by others to learn how to pronounce her own name. Should she really not?