7. IDEOLOGY - Notes from “I write what I like” “ "The logic behind white domination is to prepare the black man for the subservient role in this country. Not so long ago this used to be freely said in parliament, even about the educational system of the black people. It is still said even today, although in a much more sophisticated language. To a large extent the evil-doers have succeeded in producing at the output end of their machine a kind of black man who is man only in form. This is the extent to which the process of dehumanisation has advanced." (p.28 par 2) … how effective was the preparation, considering the internalised and ongoing oppression that is evident?
8. IDEOLOGY - Notes from “I write what I like” “ The first step is to make the black man come to himself; to pump back life into his empty shell; to infuse him with pride and dignity, to remind him of his complicity in the criome of allowing himself to be misused and therefore letting evil reign supreme in the country of his birth. This is what we mean by an inward-looking process. This is the definition of black consciousness” (p.29 par 2) … note the “inward looking process” as an important issue in the relationship between the structural and the subjective
9. IDEOLOGY - Notes from “I write what I like” “ The colonialists were not satisfied merely with holding a people in their grip and emptying the Native’s brain of all form and content, they turned to the past of the oppressed people and distorted, disfigured and destroyed it (Fanon). No longer was reference made to African culture, it became barbarism. Africa was the “dark continent”. Religious practices and customs were referred to as superstition…No wonder the African child learns to hate his heritage in his days at school. So negative is the image presented to him that he tends to find solace only in close identification with the white society.” (p.29 par 2) … the only way to overthrow Apartheid (oppression/racism) is the subjective “taking on” or “working with” the ideology of the project of Apartheid (oppression/racism)
10. “ part of the approach envisaged in bringing about black consciousness has to be directed to the past, to seek to rewrite the history of the black man and produce in it the heroes who form the core of the African background” (p.29 par 5) … how successful is this project? … hence the importance of celebration, of creating heroes, of school curricula
11. To anyone living in the black world, the hidden anger and turmoil could always be seen shining through the faces and actions of these voiceless masses but it was never verbalised” (p.34 par 3) … To what extent is anger about racism, oppression, verbalised now?
12. “ Merely by describing yourself as black you have started on a road towards emancipation, you have committed yourself to fight against all forces that seek to use your blackness as a stamp that marks you out as a subservient being. … the fact that we are all not white does not necessarily mean that we are all black. Non-whites do exist…if one’s aspiration is whiteness but his pigmentation makes attainment of this impossible, then that person is a non-white….Black people – real black people – are those who can manage to hold their heads high in defiance rather than willingly surrender their souls to the white man” (p.48 par 2) … it is important to define oneself as black, idenitfying as a black person, not a non-white
13. “ One must immediately dispel the thought that black consciousness is merely a methodology or a means to an end. What Black Consciousness seeks to do is produce at the output end of the process real black people who do not regard themselves as appendages to white society” (p.51 par 4) … Black Consciousness is not a temporary means to an end
14. “ total identification with an oppressed group in a system that forces one group to enjoy privilege and to live on the sweat of another, is impossible. …The (white) liberal must fight on his own and for himself. If they are true liberals they must realise that they themselves are oppressed, and that they must fight for their own freedom and not that of the nebulous ‘they’ with whom they can hardly claim identification” (p.66 par 3) … what is the role of the person who is not oppressed? “ For a long time the black has been listening with patience to the advice he has been receiving on how best to respobnd to the kick.With painful slowness he is now beginning to show signs that it is his right and duty to respond to the kick in the way he sees fit” (p.66 par 4) … conscientisation…what does this say about the role of the social worker?
15. “ The attitude of some rural African folk who are against education is often misunderstood…they see education as the quickest way of destroying the substance of the African culture…” (p.70 par 1) … how is education in SA today countering this?
16. “ There is no doubt that the colour question in SA politics was originally introduced for economic reasons. The leaders of the white community had to create some kind of barrier between black and whites so that the whites could enjoy privileges at the expense of blacks and still feel free to give a moral justification for the obvious exploitation that pricked even the hardest of white consciences … while the race [problem started as an offshoot of the economic greed exhibited by white people, it has now become a serious problem on its own (p.88 par 1) … . How does this race problem manifest itself now?
17. Black Consciousness defines the situation… the thesis is in fact a strong white racism, the antithesis to this must, ipso facto, be a strong solidarity amongst the blacks on whom this white racism seeks to prey. Out of these two situations we can therefore hope to reach some kind of balance – a true humanity where power politics will have no place.” (p.90 par 3) … what is the thesis and the antithesis in the present?
