“Racial Classification Is Meaningless”: Why Racial Classification in South Africa Is Unintelligible for Some Eritrean Refugees

Objective The article's objective is to explore how Eritrean refugees self‐identified in the face of racial classification in South Africa. Methods A qualitative approach and one‐on‐one interviews were conducted with participants. Results As part of a larger study that resulted in diverse themes, this article discusses Eritrean refugees who interpreted the South African racial classification system as meaningless. Conclusion The rejection of the host country's racial classification scheme emerged among some first‐generation Eritrean refugees who did not have racial self‐awareness in Eritrea and who were strongly embedded in their ethnic communities and enclaves in urban South Africa, isolated from the host community. Furthermore, some refugees' rejection of the racial system in South Africa reinforces some South African nationals' call for the dismantling of the apartheid‐inherited classification.