In a timeless collection of African short stories, folk tales and poetry, edited by Barbara Nolen, the poem titled The Moon succinctly captures what this polemic is about. Let me reproduce the said poem:
“The moon lights the earth
It lights the earth but still
The night must remain the night
The night cannot be like the day
The moon cannot dry our washing
Just like a woman cannot be a man
Just like a black can never be a white.”
This short poem talks to many important issues, depending on one’s interpretation of it. It could be argued that one of the key messages from it is that expectations should be managed. It also calls on humanity to be realistic and deal with issues as they are or as they seem. This reminds me of Benjamin — my favourite character in George Orwell’s Animal Farm. George Orwell narrates that Benjamin “seldom talked … alone among the animals in the farm he never laughed. If asked why, he would say that he saw nothing to laugh at”. When things got out of hand — many years after the animals, under the leadership of Napoleon, had taken over the farm from human beings — Orwell narrates that “Benjamin professed to remember every detail of his long life and to know that things never had been, nor ever could be much better or much worse … ”. Benjamin believed that things never change: “life would go on as it had always gone on — that is, badly”.
When it comes to some of the most pressing challenges confronting humanity I have often wondered whether Benjamin was right — though cynical and extreme. WEB Du Bois in The Souls of Black Folk pronounced — at the very beginning of the twentieth century — that “the problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the colour line”. Almost a hundred years later, Cornell West in the 2001 preface of his Race Matters argues that “ … the legacy of white supremacy lingers — often in the face of the very denials of its realities”. He concludes that “the problem of the twenty first century remains the problem of the colour line”.
Scholars and activists such as West and Du Bois proposed ways of dealing with the challenge of “colour line”. For West, in particular, the critical issue is “black leadership”. The experience of the last ten years or so, globally, suggests that there are other important factors that need to be addressed. It could be argued that “black leadership” has not been an effective answer to the challenge of “colour line”. I recently wrote about the challenge of white supremacy, and even the possibility of black supremacy, in the case of South Africa (http://www.thoughtleader.co.za/vusigumede/2009/05/24/south-africa-unresolved-pressing-challenges). The problem of white supremacy, in particular, is as rampant all over the world — my limited lived experiences in countries such as Brazil and US suggest that the challenge of white supremacy or even racism is widespread.
“One of the greatest sons of our nation” — as Nelson Mandela called Stephen Bantu Biko during the commemoration of the 20th anniversary of Biko’s death — proposed, more than 30 years ago, a solution to the problem of “colour line”: Black Consciousness. He argued that “black consciousness defines the situation differently. The thesis is in fact a strong white racism and therefore the antithesis to this must, ipso facto, be a strong solidarity amongst blacks on whom this white racism seeks to prey”. Biko unpacks black consciousness in his most quoted essay written in 1973 as “an attitude of mind and a way of life, the most positive call to emanate from the black world for a long time. Its essence is the realisation by the black man [and woman] of the need to rally together with his brothers [and sisters] around the cause of their oppression — the blackness of their skin — and to operate as a group to rid themselves of the shackles that bind them to perpetual servitude”. He concludes that “some will charge that we are racist but these people are using exactly the values we reject … we have set out on a quest for true humanity”.
There are varied views on how we could “march forth with courage and determination” — as Biko appealed to us — “to bestow upon South Africa the greatest gift possible — a more human face”. This challenge is not unique to the South African situation, as hinted above. Many thinkers and leaders have presented different perspectives on how humanity should “march forth” for “true humanity”. Frantz Fanon, for instance, talks of “psycho-affective imaginations of violence”. Fanon argued that “violence can thus be understood to be the perfect mediation — man liberates himself in and through violence”. I doubt I should go into details of how Fanon suggested humanity should deal with the “colour line” challenge.
Elliot Aronson in his remarkable book Readings about the Social Animal presents a possible way forward: improved self-compassion. As hinted in my other polemics, among the challenges that our nation faces is of individuals that are prejudiced, bitter and so on. This could be linked to our fragile egos that I have alluded to before. In essence, it seems that we do not have what Aronson terms “high/well-grounded self-esteem”. Aronson argues that “the key to developing high/well-grounded self-esteem lies in the ability to look at one’s shortcomings and mistakes and failures with full attention instead of turning away and trying to ignore them or explain them away”. He contends that developing high/well-grounded self-esteem “requires a good measure of constructive self-compassion”. Self-compassion, as Aronson describes, “implies the ability to examine one’s imperfect behaviour, feel truly bad about any harm one has done or any stupidities one has committed — and not rush to justify the behaviour”.
It could be argued that to deal with our prejudices, bitterness and so on we need to improve our self-esteem and self-compassion. Similarly, to deal a blow to the “colour line” challenge and other challenges confronting our nation, we need to improve on our self-awareness, self-esteem and self-compassion — all this can be learnt and none of it is insurmountable. We should — in time — prove Benjamin extreme. We should, in time, realise the true humanity that Biko and Sobukwe, among others, died for. Well-grounded self-esteem is critical for us to address the challenge of the “colour line” that Du Bois and West aptly analysed. The “Black Leadership” that West craves for would be brought about by you and me. The challenge of the “colour line”, and many other social ills, calls for sharpened activism by all of us — we can each be the change that we want to be, as Mahatma Gandhi pleaded. In addition, we do not only need social capital, of significance is also political capital. Political capital can be defined as political influence that community members have because of their community “organisation”; the ability to shape decisions about their lives.
The inability to address challenges named above could imply that many years later we would still have a challenge of the “colour line”, and this challenge has major repercussions for future generations. Countries, like the US, that have not successfully addressed the challenge of the “colour line” ended up with a so-called “underclass” — the lesson from the American experience is that public policies can only do so much. The “colour line” challenge, coupled with other social ills bedevilling our young democracy, can subtract our hard-earned gains and cost future generations dearly. The notion of the “underclass” is a lot more dangerous for South Africa. Because we are South Africans, and our history attests to that, we will not allow low self-esteem and poor self-compassion to compromise the ideal that many died for. Black consciousness or any form of consciousness or remedy of the challenge of the “colour line” needs people that have sound self-awareness, self-esteem, self-compassion and so on and so forth. The important point made here is that self-esteem can be improved no matter what the reasons for low self-esteem.
While Benjamin’s pessimism makes me uncomfortable, I think he is a good analyst who understands that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely – no matter if you’re black or white, (in his case, human or animal). And this is where I part company with the general gist of this post. Yes of course in a historical sense it is the colour line, particularly with our recent history of white supremacy. But post apartheid, it is party supremacy with race being a matter of demographics and where party membership bestows voice – regardless of which party it is. The secondary issue changes, but the primary issue remains the same – human beings + power + influence =in groups and out groups.
We can tinker all we like on the margins but if the centre continues to be about power and exclusion, and simply stratifies the society along different lines be it race, class gender , party politics, etc. then yes, there is safety in being a bit Benjaminesque – accepting what is, about the human condition. Confronting the issues without blinkers.
The external world and internal world must both be changed to be in balance. Otherwise we blog, while Rome burns.
Some people are just a bit more stupid than Benjamin – even though they see the evidence of what the ‘human condition’ produces, they remain idealistic because they think the collective human shadow can be faced and integrated – one blind spot at a time.
Very well written piece with some interesting insghts too! Thanks for sharing your thoughts Dr Gumede!
“if a mozo killed a mozo he’d moved to another farm; if a white man killed a mozo he’d be sent to another country; if a mozo killed a white man he’d be accidentally shot”, Peter Chapman explaining the way & conditions farm workers lived in the banana farms.
(pg 103, Jungle Capitalists, by Peter Chapman)
Really great peice!!! But you know it takes great/real character to achieve a state of true self-awareness, to honeslt assess one’s self/one’s perspective/ behaviour/ actions etc. And it takes even more to then do something to change that which is found waning. Not sure that all South Africans including past/present leaders possess this rare quality(great character)? But it’s somethin worth working towards, for all… Perhaps you could extend your thesis to other fora for discussion/ debate and enrich our thinking…
I do not know about others but I have come across a number of blacks who have been ostracised, censured, victimised simply by demonstrating self esteem and therefore being assertive. These attributes are in most cases seen as inappropriate for blacks to be nipped in the bud before they contaminate a bigger group.
Mbuya Munlo.
Vusi you have started what most writers shun because of this prevalent notion of ‘conventional thinking’ in everything. White supremacy in itself is conventional thinking – disrespect and disregard of the next person’s race. Self esteem will go a long-way in propelling and changing attitudes particularly within the black race…but this does not imply that, therefore, the whites would have to do away with theirs (self-esteem). However, this piece has been long over due and I believe it forms the prototype of thought-showering on this subject yet to come.
May I close by saying: even self esteem or black consciousness, will not take away white supremacy, what will is our language, we need to adopt a language that will be common to all South Africans, that will be the medium of communication in the SADC…when we do that, black consciousness will have a meaning! Let us have a method or approach that has propelled this white supremacy hog-wash even amongst the so called born frees…language!
As it stands right now, Black consciousness is a fashion, and fashion comes and goes…but style (approach) will never get out of fashion!
I echo the observations noted by Mbuya Munlo. Many aspects of African culture stifle the maximum development of high achievers, in which all could develop a sense of pride and upliftment. Forcing all to trot with the slowest keeps Africa behind in the race against world competitors, who encourage individualism. External comparisons may highlight certain inadequacies, often created from the inside, but are not always the primary cause of low self esteem amongst many Africans.
In case there’s any misunderstanding, I consider myself one of those stupid people referred to in my previous post.
Like the essay. The problem is any such discussion ineveitably gets overpowered by “white people” screaming about exclusion or giving their opinions on how it should be done.
While new thoughts are always welcome, most of the input is a veiled attempt to derail the conversation.
The “colour line” needs to be resolved
The core assumption is that whites — by and large content with their world-view and their own role models — are therefore “white supremacists”.
Blacks, on the other hand, are not nearly as convinced of their world view or role models as they consider these to be doubtful and imperfect, so they are portrayed as “victims” at the hands of these nasty “white supremacists”.
The “solution”, therefore, is to insist that roles are reversed: that whites be forced to question and doubt their positive world-view and self-image and, simultaneously, for blacks to insist that THEIR world-view is the only proper show in town.
It’s a zero-sum equation, of course. Blacks can only rise as long as whites fall.
Why should whites willingly contribute to their own demise? Just to make blacks happier?
It’s nonsense, of course.
-isms exist and one form replaces another. Fear spawns and nurtures them and courage and true love are the only remedies. People will kill for something as meaningless as a soccer team if the circumstances are desperate enough.
It is possible that a 40 vehicle blue-light convoy driving past street corner beggars is symptomatic of a fragile ego. Maybe presidential jet trips to Sun City, and impromptu R95000 restaurant bills point to a lack of self-esteem. But these subtleties are generally lost to the “West” when they consider the problem of African leadership. Especially when they are asked for donations for the starving from an African leader occupying a suite at the Dorchester.
So maybe you should explain it to them.
Powerful…
Insightful article – and I agree that “self-awareness, self-esteem, self-compassion and so on” are qualities that ALL South Africans need to aspire to irrespective of colour. We need to classify ourselves as Africans and not black or white Africans – witness what has happened in America by calling themselves Black-Americans the black of that country have marginalised themselves by identifying themselves as a different “tribe”. I agree that one should not lose your historic roots but if you are born and bred in a country then you are a person of that country. How many American blacks have visited this continent, what possible ties would they have, their home language is English (American!)? Every person is this country needs to call him or herself a South African and to hell with what colour you are.
Truly great piece. One should emphasise the fact that it is the individual FIRST and NOT the community, that must “have sound self-awareness, self-esteem, self-compassion and so on and so forth”. That is the Magnum Opus. The MOB (community/group/nation) is only capable of a little more than rising to the lowest common denominator – this is what I read in Benjamin’s words. The individuals – whether black or white – must redeem themselves from their own neuroses, and as a result the world is saved. I know of no other way!
Thought provoking article Vusi. Thanks!
Unfortunately many in SA are still in denial, whites AND blacks. Just the blogs on thoughleader illustrate this point. Hopefully we in SA can learn from others who have traveled down this path of healing these wounds.
@ThaboM if a problem is not properly contextualized – the solution will always be piecemeal and give rise to other problems.
I contend that Supremacy is the primary problem and issues of race, class, gender etc. issue from there. Further, if we deal with the (racial) symptoms of supremacy we must also keep in view the cause (supremacy). How does this derail the discussion?
ThaboM wrote at 9.47 by which time several people had responded. The only input that referred to exclusion was mine. I therefore assume that ThaboM has now unilaterally reclassified me ‘white’ or it is his intention to be insulting by suggesting that I have a colonized mind and therefore my view is invalid. How are you resolving the issue of colour line ThaboM?
As far as I understood, this blog is about polemics. The last time I checked, this was a democracy. Nowhere in my comment is there any suggestion that the colour line must not be resolved. Maybe ThaboM should deal with the substance of the post rather than to be prescriptive in the kneejerk tradition.
Maybe if we stop labeling and insulting each other, we could start building collective and individual esteem. It seems that supremacy, in all its forms, is a function of low self esteem. If we love ourselves, it should not be a problem to love others, regardless of identity.
Good commentary indeed, I share the same sentiments that we need to transcend the “colour line” and move into the high-grounds of self esteem. The issue of “black-leadership” is a fact that cannot be overemphasized. The views expressed around the challenges faced by SAA, ESCOM, SABC, to mention but a few, are attributed to ‘black-leadership” by a certain quota of our society. Whilst the “ponzi-scheme” debacle is seen as affecting one part of our society. This dichotomy of the South Africa society worldview wherein some section is seen as inadequate and dependent whilst the other is seen as more superior needs to be dealt with at the proximal level of our being. We must continue in our struggle to educate the youth of this country; as we celebrate their month; about self-worth through education, sports, political dialogue and so on. The best place to start is with the youth, I fully agree with the African proverb that says: “if a child washes his hands he could eat with kings”. We need to mould our society now for a better South Africa and a global player. In his work, Black Skin, White Mask Fanon warns of the danger of poor self-esteem, he encourages us to operate at a level of self compassion, self-esteem.
@Iain Dale on June 23rd, 2009 at 9:11 am
I like what you are suggesting and I believe it’s very powerful. The issues we have with a lot of the white supremacist is that they don’t want to see themselves as Africans. They don’t want to associate themselves with Africa. You will often hear comments like “This is Africa remember?”, Every time something goes wrong it’s like it only happens in Africa. The question is what do people like yourself do when they come across this kinds of people. Do you challenge them and show them that is not the way things should be done? Because as a black person I am not in that position as I end up being accused of playing “The Favorite Race Card”. Lately a black person cannot challenge anything that is said in his presence regarding my culture or racism itself as we are accused of being sensitive.
@Dave Harris on June 23rd, 2009 at 10:53 am
You are right, unfortunately for as long as there is a lot of denial we will never resolve this. I find the most of whites who are willing to work towards a better South Africa have acknowledged this and have accepted that they are equals with blacks and they have no problem with dealing with blacks.
‘Is it because am black’. This clouds man’s thinking cap. We cannot deny hearing this irritating comment,if one has no heard it, then we guess you hear it now. We are absolutely living in denial if we fail to recognise and agree to the impending and disastrous fact of racial discrimination.We do pretend that things are ok but I think things are far from being ok. Robert Burns in her 1785 dirge poem emphasised on Man’s inhumanity to man. Self Esteem is a sine qua non for us but my former lecturer(name withheld)said this can only be achieved 3 days after our death. But we believe one can at least acquire a good Self Image. I am tempted to comment more but am afraid unhealed wounds and grudges might efface if not handled properly. Good strike Doc,..
Even in the Confederations cup thats going on,we’ve been labelled as so BLACK by some fans because we enjoy our game with the Vuvuzela. One can check out the article on http://www.africancoffee.co.za on Vuvuzela; Horn for the Uncivilized
Quite interesting follow up article Dr. Vusi and also quite insightful quotes that you bring up on this issue of race. An issue such as race is quite a thorny issue in post-apartheid S.A and intellectuals like you really do a brilliant job in putting it out there in the public sphere so that people can debate and if possible find solutions if there are any to the problems we confront on issues of colour relations.Well written
The fact that South Africa chose the path of peace, obscures the fact that historic soul wounds were not adequately dealt with – evidence of which emerges even in this blogspace. The TRC had a limited mandate. In fact, this blog appears to be the first broadly public attempt that I know of, to start addressing the contentious issue of internalized superiority and internalized inferiority as described by Fanon, Freire, Memmi &others. We have no idea how far back we should go to understand the nature of victimhood and the various ways in which even victims perpetrate harm.
More and more people, particularly in the field of criminology are beginning to realize that to talk about ‘deviance’ is to deny that each one of us are victims and offenders at one time or another, by omission or commission. The degree of offences and their consequences simply differ or escape criminal law definition. This is not a call to impunity, simply a recognition of our common humanity and an attempt to reintegrate rather than expel the perpetrator.
Most importantly, it seems that dealing with consequences of different forms of supremacy and psychological woundedness, while high up on the agenda, is mostly dealt with at the individual level. This leaves a gaping hole w.r.t. group &societal forms of dealing with soul wounds in a way that gets all to feel included and part of one country – even those who were lower down on the apartheid hierarchy of victimizing and victimisation.
Great piece Dr V, very thought provoking. Am not sure though how the issue of white supremacy would be addressed??? Apart from constantly trying to drill the message to indivisuals who think they are superior by virture of being white that we are all equal and should be treated as such. How do we get inside an individual’s head and change their perseptions? Corporate SA is proving to be another struggle that we grapple with on a daily basis But we journey on and embrase those who embrace our presence without any reservations or artifice.
HOLA Nyanga V. Gumede:
Amos writes: “The psychology, consciousness and behavioral tendencies of Individuals and societies are to a very significant extent the products of their personal and collective histories. Both personal and collective psychology are constructed from those experiences which can be consciously retrieved from memory as well as those experiences which have been forgotten or repressed but which still represent themselves in individual and collective habits, tendencies, traditions, emotional responsivities, perspectives, ways of processing information, attitudes and reflex-like reactions to certain stimuli and situations. Both types of experiences interacting with current perceptions are utilized by individuals and groups to achieve certain material and non-material ends”. `So, Mr. Ngaka, you say we need to ‘improve our self-esteem and compassion? How and why, and who needs to improve from what starting point, which group? I would like to posit the fact that if we get back into our histoy, get back into our tradition, we might even become wealthy. As an African, I will not extoll poverty to by bretheren. The more we identify our tradition/culture, the more we will be rich as a people. Anyhow, how is taking back what belongs to us going to keep us poor? Amnesia means an undiscovered self, an emptiness, a self incapable of self understanding and understanding of self motivation. To rediscover one’s history is not an act of self-discovery, its an act of self-creation. so Dr. Nyanga, that’s one way towards self-esteem and compassion.