The meaning of Black Consciousness: A proper analysis of Black Consciousness should, we believe, begin with its adequate and comprehensive definition, which would serve as a context within which we could then begin an exposition of the philosophy and ideology which are the basic tenets of Black Consciousness. The 1972 Policy Manifesto of the South African Students Organization (SASO) defines Black Consciousness as an attitude of mind, a way of life whose basic tenet is that the Black must reject all value systems that seek to make him a foreigner in the country of birth and reduce his basic human dignity The concept of Black Consciousness therefore implies an awareness and pride in their blackness by Black people and implies that Black people should and must appreciate their value as human beings. Black Consciousness also means that Black people should be aware of the significance and importance of their own value systems, i.e. their socio-economic, political and cultural values. Implied in this appreciation of their value systems is the need to reject those foreign, alien value systems which were forced down Black peoples throats as part of the oppressors logic of maintaining and perpetrating its brutal system of exploitation and emasculation. Thus the essence of this search for our indigenous value systems is the need to redefine ourselves and our value systems which are today engulfed in the foreign and alien exploitative and oppressive values which have been imposed upon us, both physically and psychologically, by our oppressors in order to make us malleable to subjugation. The challenge of Black Consciousness for any Black man in South Africa today is the need for a new and incisive redefinition, reidentification and reappraisal of the Black totality in the context of a capitalist, racist and exploitative South Africa, presided over by a self-appointed white minority acting as the missionary of international capitalism and finance capital. Another significant aspect of Black Consciousness is the call for cohesive group solidarity, i.e. Black solidarity. Thus the quintessence of Black Consciousness is the realization and acceptance by Blacks in South Africa that, in order to play a positive role in the struggle for liberation and emancipation, they must effectively employ the concept of group power and thereby build a strong base from which to counter the oppressors policy of divide and rule. The philosophy of Black Consciousness therefore means group pride and determination by Black people in South Africa to rise together from the death bed of oppression and exploitation. At the heart of Black Consciousness is also the realization by Blacks that the most potent and effective weapon of oppression and exploitation in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed. In South Africa, the oppressor has so attempted to twist and manipulate our minds to make us mentally and psychologically pliable to his exploitation and manipulation. Black Consciousness therefore calls for a psychological revolution in the Black community; this will be a revolution which is directed towards the elimination of all stereotypes by Blacks about themselves and one which is directed towards the complete eradication of the slave-mentality and feelings of inadequacy characteristic of an oppressed and exploited society. The basic logic inherent in Black Consciousness is that no man can wage a meaningful war of liberation unless and until he has effectively eradicated his slave-mentality and accepted themselves as full human beings who have a role to play in their own salvation. Black Consciousness therefore forces Black people to see themselves as full human beings, complete, full and total in themselves, and not as extensions of others. Some people have accused proponents of Black Consciousness of rejecting and spurning a coalition between white liberals and the Blacks. However, assessment and evaluation of the history of the involvement of the white liberal establishment in the Black struggle have convinced us that white liberals have indeed been criminally responsible for arresting and aborting the struggle by playing the role of a bulwark, a kind of buffer zone between the Blacks and the white system which has been oppressing us for centuries. In fact, to us, the white liberal establishment is part and parcel of the white system; indeed, the driving force behind the white liberal establishments involvement in the Black struggle is its desire to kill the revolutionary zeal of the Black masses by promising them a controlled change which will result in some mystical, mosaic multi-racialism. This multi-racialism is never defined precisely lest it reveal to Blacks that it is nothing but a polished and sophisticated version of the racist system which has been responsible for the dehumanization of Blacks in South Africa - R. Nengwekhulu
Posted on: Mon, 15 Sep 2014 06:43:14 +0000