Someone recently said that when Steve Biko died 34 years ago, his philosophy of Black Consciousness died with him.
They went on to charge that his inspiring and life-affirming psycho-political programme had been badly mangled by the Azanian People’s Organisation, which could not comprehend its essence beyond their obsession with the politics of skin colour.
Azapo, as the organisation was known, was the self-appointed custodian of Biko and his philosophy of BC. They claimed to be the heirs.
I was asked what I thought about Biko and his BC now that they’re both dead and irrelevant in a non-racial society.
This was a strange question to someone who is not a legendary freedom fighter.
But as a so-called black person, I too like millions of others have been mistreated in my fatherland for no other reason than being born black.
As a youngster growing up in the 1970s, I participated in memorials for Biko and was chased and beaten for singing songs that revived his memory.
I neither escaped to exile nor was imprisoned on Robben Island.
As far as I am concerned, Biko and his BC philosophy will never die for as long as we live in a society that reminds people their skin is black or white.
In fact, the BC philosophy will never fade or go out of fashion for as long as we live in a society governed by race.
It is an open secret that in the global village black people will always be afflicted by discrimination, injustice, exploitation and oppression, no matter how much freedom, democracy and self-government they enjoy.
As long as black people are afflicted by the legacy of colonialism and apartheid wherever they go, the intuitive connection with Biko and what he represented will always be present.
This is the inheritance he left for the black world: a philosophy of self-awareness.
If this self-awareness among black people were to die, it would mean that blacks, as a collective, are no longer subjected to joblessness, poverty, crime, disease and illiteracy in this world.
It is these social ills that create a particular consciousness among black people who, for centuries, have been mistreated for nothing else but their skin colour.
This is the meaning of Biko and the relevance of his BC philosophy.
Still, detractors of Biko are always quick to justify the death of his philosophy by pointing out the failure of so-called black leadership in a free and democratic society.
They claim that his BC has failed to make black leaders across the spectrum be accountable, honest and transparent and thus a shining example to the world.
“If this BC was not dead,” they assert, “what has it brought for black people in the 17 years of freedom and self-rule?”
They then point to the corruption, rampant greed, love for material accumulation and how, increasingly, black people are in a far worse state than they were under unjust white rule.
Also, they point to the widening gap between rich and poor, especially in the black community, and how black schools, houses, clinics and roads are of a poorer quality than those built under apartheid.
They say that except for the few with political connections, the lot of black people has become worse.
They point to black politicians who know BC but are more interested in what they can get for themselves from state coffers than what they can do for the people that Biko loved so much.
They speak of service-delivery protestors who have no respect for property or the lives of fellow human beings as all they seem to know is how to trash, burn and destroy instead of using proper channels to address their grievances.
They speak of a Black Consciousness that has seen many black people embrace foreign languages like English while they condemn their mother tongue to the margins.
They speak of a black people who have not got their land back and the economy of their country is in a few white hands except for small group of BEE beneficiaries.
But you never her them talk about how, in the last 35 years, black people assert their rights to self-respect and demand to be treated with dignity.
Black people have undergone radical psychological changes that no longer see them subserviently “roll over and die” when subjected to inhuman treatment by both black and white.
Something in the hearts and souls of black people has awakened that makes them know who their true enemies are.
They now understand that it never was the white person per se but anyone — irrespective of skin colour, political creed or party affiliation — who puts their selfish individual interests before those of the nation.
Above all, black people know that freedom is not about having black people occupy the highest political offices in the land only to do the same things that were done by the colonialists and apartheid cohorts.
Rarely do they talk about blackness as a reflection of a mental attitude than an over-emphasis on skin colour to hide one’s personal failures.
What we need to understand is that Biko did not die in vain.
Real black people will continue to keep his legacy alive by claiming their position as their rightful owners of this country. Belonging and owning this beautiful land is not about living large at the expense of the poor and downtrodden.
If Biko and his BC were about putting yourself No 1, they would have long ceased to exist, especially in the minds of the majority.
The philosophy is not dead because it never was about relying on one man for its survival.
BC is and always has been a way of life, an intuitive understanding that everybody deserves the best life has to offer.
Perhaps it is time to stop and wonder who claims that Biko and BC are dead. It can only be people who have much to gain from the perpetuation of negative stereotypes and prejudices about black people.
The spirit of Biko lives in all men and women who believe in self-responsibility and the right of everyone to enjoy the best that this country has to offer.
Let us always remember Biko!
‘Real black people will continue to keep his legacy alive by claiming their position as their rightful owners of this country.’
I beg to differ. You either have not heard of the black migration from Central Africa, or you are puposefully trying to ignore, or deny the fact that the rightful owners of this land is the Khoi and San people, and their descendants.
Biko Lives!
Praetor, first if we agree that Khoi and San people are Africans then this land belongs to africans. second, there are at least three tribes among the Xhosa speaking people who are the direct descendents of Khoi and San with no European or Asian blood. Thirdly, Khoi, San and other African tribes lived side by side for centuries before white settlers landed in the Cape.
Khoi and Sans are Africans, therefore you cannot claim to be a Khoi and San descendant on one side and reject being an African on the other side as many so called colourerd people do.
Sandile writes “They say that except for the few with political connections, the lot of black people has become worse.”
Steve Biko had connections with white people hence he could raise funds to build clinics and maintain his wife and kids, and a girlfriend while still studying. I’m not saying it is wrong to have beneficial connections, I’m saying it is wrong to pretend that leaders we like never used connections to advance their cause. Every educated black person does very well materially if anomlungu wakhe. This observation has not escaped ordinary people like myself. We know if unomlungu wakho you could easily move away from the dusty streets of “Snake Park” to the leafy surburbs of Sandhurst. Those educated black people who consciously refuse to have abelungu babo they remain in the periphery of the economy and world acclaim. Every educated black person these days feel compelled to take a dig at Malema whenever they get a public platform. Why? To get approval ofcourse from the white community.
Black consciousness is a flawed ideology since it requires one to be educated and to have white people to bounce it on.
The land belongs to nobody, there are only occupants. When they die, it is not theirs anymore.
In 300 years time someone else may have conquered this piece of the planet, or an earthquake may have dumped it in the sea, or a polar shift might put it God knows where.
Then what? It was all just hot air…
What about people [ 'white' ] who have lived in Africa for hundreds of generations?
Aren’t they Africans?
“They now understand that it never was the white person per se but anyone — irrespective of skin colour, political creed or party affiliation — who puts their selfish individual interests before those of the nation.”
Wonderfully said, but I’m not sure that is what I feel in my daily life. Animosity lives on in many. There should be no contention about who owns this country; it owns us, we are only its guardians.
It is important to know that things change and societies change overtime; yes, black people have suffered a lot of injustices, but that does not mean that they will be perpetual subjects…
the debate over whether whties – who are of European descent – are Africans or not is old and tired. Whites will choose who they want to be. As Robert Sobukwe said, if they owe allegiance to this country and its people, then they are Africans.
Also, Biko and his BC did not define ‘blackness’ in terms of skin colour. it is a matter of ‘a reflection of a mental attitude,’ as they put it. This means there are black people who cannot be considered black. And there are whites who are black.
As to who the owners of this land are, well, that is another matter, again. We only have to consider the historical facts. We know how whites came to be here. But it does not mean they do not belong just as black Americans are Americans first and have every right to claim beloning and a sense of ownership to America.
I live in Brazil and I can understand such question. I met a SA woman in Auckland who told me “black people suffering in this world” It is like a bad heritage left for europeans but sometimes we can change such situation.
Articles like this, whilst interesting to read, are not particularly useful in creating broader understanding amongst the target audience. It is filled with pejoratives and angst . The author would have us believe that
“It is an open secret that in the global village black people will always be afflicted by discrimination, injustice, exploitation and oppression, no matter how much freedom, democracy and self-government they enjoy.”
“Real black people will continue to keep his legacy alive by claiming their position as their rightful owners of this country.”
Statements like these immediately beg the question. Is it Blacks against the world? (My geography tells me that non white nations (India, China, etc) outnumber the whites by a fair margin).
And more importantly just how do you identify a black, is it based on the amount of melanin, does one have to do a “blackness” exam to qualify to be a “real black”. My immediate family has Xhosa, Pakistan, Afrikaans, British and German roots – does the cut off point for “real” ness mean that only some of us will be deemed black.
For me the author’s continuous use of “Black” and “They” achieves little but to further stereotype an already polarized landscape.
Surely it is now time for us to stop playing the finger pointing game that we are so fond of and start working, not as “Blacks” (real or otherwise) or “They” or “Whites”, but rather as “South Africans”. We have a poor collective past,…
@ Sandile
The message from Biko was that trust and respect are to be earned by achievement. This is betrayed by AA and BEE.
Beautiful piece…very well put. “BC is and always has been a way of life, an intuitive understanding that everybody deserves the best life has to offer.” Couldnt put it better if I tried…
So what is the debate all about, surely it can’t be about the level of melanin concerntration in ones skin. Again why should people owe allegiance to a geographic position, I don’t get it. Black people need self respect not black consciousness, once they’ve attained it, nothing can stand in the way. I’m afraid black intellectuals are always found wanting when it comes to self respect. They’re always seeking approval from the creators of knowledge.
Unfortunately, it seems one needs to be highly educated and ineffectual to engage in the black consciousness intellectual acrobatics. Sandile can keep those he regards as genuine blacks, I’ll stick with the simple masses who preach and encourage self respect to their kids.
Sipho I agree with you but only in a normal society. Preaching selfrespect is not enough in a society where Black people are supposed to be inferior, promiscuous, greedy among other things. Couple this with a concerted effort by our media to portray the greed of our politicians as inherent to africa blacks in particular.
Mbekis of this world do not help in this regard by jumping to this bandwagon. Dare to point out the structural deficiencies in our politics compared to the rest of the world as the main cause for this corruption, you will not be invited to any dinner. if persist, you might find space in MG thought leader but not in the main stream.
This is what one of South Africa’s and perhaps Africa’s illustrious sons had to say on the issue of race, and who is and should be regarded as an African.
“Politically we stand for government of the Africans for the Africans by the Africans with everybody who only owes his only loyalty to Africa and accepts the democratic rule of an African majority, being regarded as an African. We guarantee no minority rights because we are fighting precisely that group – exclusiveness with those who plead for minority rights would like to perpetuate. It is our view that if we have guaranteed individual rights we have given the highest guarantee necessary and possible. I have said before, and I will say so now, that I see no reason why, in a free, and democratic Africa, a predominently black electorate should not return a white man to parliament, for colour will count for nothing in free Africa.”
Sobukwe also observed: ” We are fighting for the noblest cause on earth, the liberation of mankind….there is only one race, the human race. Multi – racialism is racialism multiplied.”
Sobukwe’s qualms, if I may take the liberty to interprete him, were with the white liberals and white communists, who wanted to join the struggle as directors on how the oppressed shoud conduct theire liberation.
But truth be told, the opportunistic leadership of the PAC abroad and at home, contributed considerably to the PAC being regarded as an anti-white organisation by demagogic outburst…
Why is it a norm that people will trivialize a very simple subject. An Afrikan man in Germany, even if born there, will be referred to as a ‘Germanic African’ why not simply a German. There will be those who’ll refute that, but they will be lying to themselves. Furthermore, to those who claims that they are descendants of Khois and Sans, let me ask you a question. How do I differ with Khois or Sans, or in terms of skin pigmentation? Khois and Sans are Afrikans or an Afrikan tribe to be politically incorrect just for now. Biko and Sobukwe may have outlined a certain particular position in relation to race, but did they say we must be limited to their race analysis? I personally say no to that. I fully believe we can’t cushion europeans or those of europe origin just to look good in the eyes of the world. Afrika is for Afrikans, blacks to be exact. It’s not for Arabs or Europeans, and if we keep on being academic about our existence, we’re going nowhere. Khois and Sans are Afrikans, period. The word Afrikaner or Afrikaans is for Afrikans not for dutch. They must use ‘kombuis taale’ instead of Afrikaans as it’s how this badly spoken dutch was known by then. By the way, I belong to the PAC of Azania, and I happen to share a very different view when it comes to the issue of race. I don’t see indians as blacks or Afrikans, but Indians or Asians, just like caucasians are Europeans, not Afrikans, even if born in Afrika.
@lynda # – I’m expressing my frustration with my own people. The problem is internal rather than outside. Due to the lack of self-respect amongst black people, goodwill has ceased to exist. Black people will most likely circumvent systems to benefits friends and family or fellow tribesmen and women. Since black people took over the civil service you can’t get a job unless you have a friend within. So to me black consciousness is a broad term which ignores tribal and regional sentiments. Again adherents of black consciousness are not immune in doing a hatchet job on another black person.
@Sipho, @Sandie I think we need to clarify what Black meant for Steve Biko.
Sipho’s idea of what black Consciousness was about is not accurate.
For Steve Biko, in order to qualify as black you had to be 3 things:
1. non-white – White people could not be black because they never suffered oppression for the colour of their skin that people of colour did.
2. You had to be oppressed.
3. You had to be fighting against that oppression.
From that we can see that in Biko’s definition someone like Malema could not be black since he has too much power etc.
If you were to do a “hatchet job” on another black person, you would be in the role of an oppressor and immediately lose the right to call yourself black.
Biko’s idea of blackness is non-racial because as soon as you remove the oppressor people cease to be black. In our society people still get the short end of the stick because of their colour, and so there is still a place for Black Consciousness.