Educational Media Reviews Online

This film tells the story of a woman whose life was dominated by the color of her skin because she was born to a culture where the government, society, and a classification system determined the rights of individuals based on race. Sandra Laing was a dark skinned child born to two white parents in South Africa in the 1950’s under the law of apartheid which mandates purity of race. 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. From that time she drew the attention of her community, country and world though she lived as a very lonely child who was shunned by her classmates and teachers.

In the documentary Sandra talks about her life as she takes the narrator on a trip to the places she lived, studied and worked growing up and as an adult. There are many interviews with people associated with Sandra from the time she was a child as well as experts in South African history and apartheid. Sandra’s story personalizes what South African children now only read about in history books. It was required that she be classified as white to go to the same school her brother attended; her features were not like her parents so there were questions about her paternity in a country where mixed race relationships were illegal; she married a black man when she was identified as white and, as a result, went to prison; she was disowned by her family because she lived as a black woman; and she feared losing her own children because they were not classified as the same race as she. This documentary pulls no punches about the painful nature of institutionalized prejudice while discussing how Sandra’s story fits into the belief systems of her time. The film maker points out that Sandra’s life as a black woman exemplified the black South African experience under apartheid. The whites in South Africa gave up power in 1994 and now the races mix freely. After years of uncertainty, poverty and ridicule Sandra has a secure future in her marriage and through an income from the dramatized story of her life into the film, Skin. Further information about Sandra Laing can be found in a biography, When She Was White: The True Story of a Family Divided By Race by Judith Stone.

This film would be a good addition to both school libraries and college and university libraries that support anthropology, sociology, African studies, women’s studies and history. The film is expertly produced and directed.

Additional information can be found about Sandra Laing through the dramatized film, Skin and a book, When She Was White: The True Story of a Family Divided by Race by Judith Stone.