WATCH: Zulu Tramps in New Orleans spark social media frenzy among South Africans

Actor Lemogang Tsipa, who portrays Shaka Zulu on the TV series Shaka iLembe, recently told The Citizen that he had a new deep-found respect for the Zulu King after filming the second season.

“He was somebody that’s obviously always revered because he was able to take his clan name and spread it to people who never wore it before, and they wear it with pride now,” said Tsipa.

The above quote is epitomised to the tee by the Zulu Tramps of New Orleans in the US, who are an integral part of annual Mardi Gras celebrations in the City of Louisiana.

But videos of the Zulu Tramps have caused a bit of a stir among some South Africans, who found the use of the tribe’s name as disrespectful.

This is the most disrespectful thing I’ve ever seen😭😭 I’m not Zulu but I’m offended because what the hell is this??? https://t.co/kf428dlYkL pic.twitter.com/pIqxSs1duJ

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Also known as ‘Fat Tuesday,’ Mardi Gras in New Orleans is a vibrant week-long festival that culminates on the day before Ash Wednesday.

Parades, elaborate costumes, street parties, and the throwing of beads and other jewellery mark the festival.

Some groups that annually participate in the celebrations are the Krewe of Endymion, the Krewe of Bacchus, and the Zulu Social Aid & Pleasure Club.

ALSO READ: Lemogang Tsipa on ‘deep-found respect’ for Shaka Zulu after filming S2 of ‘Shaka iLembe’

How Zulu ended up at Mardi Gras

Renowned US trumpeter and singer Louis Armstrong made it to the cover of Time Magazine for the first time in 1949 after being bestowed with the title of ‘King of the Zulu parade’.

Expressing the joy of his given title, Armstrong said it was something he had dreamt of.

“There’s a thing I’ve dreamed of all my life,” Armstrong told Time magazine in 1949, “and I’ll be damned if it don’t look like it’s about to come true — to be King of the Zulu parade. After that, I’ll be ready to die.”

In early 1909, a group of African American workers went to the Pythian Theater to see a musical comedy that included a skit entitled There Never Was and Never Will Be a King Like Me about the Zulu Tribe.

@rayrayexperience #zulutramps #nolalegends #culturebearers #RayRay #zulu #undergroundkings #neworleans #secondline #wedding #louisianawedding ♬ original sound – RayRayExperience

History has it that after watching the skit, the group went into their meeting place and merged from there, having decided to take up the ‘Zulu’ moniker for their version of Mardi Gras and also as a way of paying homage to the Zulu tribe in South Africa.

The Zulu parade has now taken place in New Orleans for more than 100 years.

This is similar to what one would find in Cape Town with the Kaapse Klopse, which also sees a predominance of men dressed in bright colours entertaining on the streets.

@nuraan_diedericks_ 🎥🎉🕺🏻🪩💃🏻 – – – – – – – – #klopse #minstrels #kaapseklopse #welcometocapetown #nuraan_diedericks_ #SAMA28 ♬ Welcome to Cape Town – The Rockets

Historically, there has been controversy around the group painting their faces black, but according to historian Ari Kelman, it was meant “to seize upon racist symbols and invert them as demonstrations of African American power,” said Kelman in an interview with PBS.

“That African Americans choose to wear blackface demystifies racist cultural symbols and norms, robbing those symbols of some of their sting.”

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