In
his prolifically inscribed book entitled “The republic of Plato” the Greek
Philosopher poses a question “how do we restructure society in order for man to
realise the best that’s in him”. Putting his words in our African context one
finds himself agreeing with Plato on the need to revisit the foundations of our
societal framework with its system (political, cultural, economical and social)
because in doing so we will begin to know exactly that which needs to be restructured.
Secondly to this, one cannot begin to see the need to restructure with an
objective to inspire community if community itself is inspired. So the notion
of restructuring to inspire tells us about the institutional and the psychological
state of society hence the call to restructure to make man realise the best
that’s in him.
One
might argue that Plato’s call to societal restructuring becomes pivotal to us
as the African continent why because the question he poses bring us inevitably
to the question – why the need to restructure? Many reasons may be given to
justify the restructuring process but as an African my application of logic to
the statement brings into bare the socio-political limitations of its
underpinnings and I cannot blame him for that why because his conceptual and
theoretical process had no African national question at the centre. The
concealed question which I find much more profound and much more relevant is “does
the system of governance in Africa require (a) restructuring or (b) reconstruction?
Moving
from the reconstructinist perspective, logic tells us that there can be no
reconstruction without deconstruction. It is this logic which makes us employ
Jacques Derrida’s philosophy of Deconstruction
to prove the unfairness, unjustness and violence (overt and covert) of the
neo-colonial system in Africa but beyond that to liquidate a violent system. It
is for this reason then that I reject Plato’s reconstructionist view why
because I do not think it necessary concerns itself with liquidation and Africa
and her children (blacks) cannot and will never survive under disguised
colonialism with its whiteness web that captures blacks to perpetual
humiliation. The system with its whiteness politics needs to go to the grave.
We must not forget Jean Paul Satre in the preface of Fanon’s Wretched when he
avows “in the heat of a battle all internal barriers breakdown”
It must be
clearly understood that the totality of confidence in blackness will come when
black Africa has successfully as Biko puts it “remove(d) the white man from our
table, strip the table of all trappings put on it by him, decorate it in true
African style, settle down and then ask him to join us on our own terms if he
liked”. Our failure to liquidate neo-colonialism in Africa has its own
consequences which many scholars wrote about but I will expose the implication
it will have on a black child from a sports and recreation perspective.
I begin by
asking a rhetorical question – if South Africa has a reconstructed system why
is the country continuously defined by violent protests as a manifestation of
powerlessness? Why is an ordinary black labour – peasantry, rural and urban
proletariat not affording to provide the same opportunities for his children to
get proper training at good institutions for different sport codes such as
Javeline, swimming lessons, hockey, tennis training, chess clubs, and many other
sport codes which the black child is not even aware of. Why is he not affording
to pay for his child’s Drama lessons at an early age, Piano lessons, dance
lessons, art lessons, Pottery lessons, Music lessons and many? My response to
this is the assertion I make about the country’s untransformed (substantively
and structurally) system of governance and its distribution of wealth. It is
from this perspective that I argue that before we can speak of sports and
recreation and the mobilisation of citizenry to partake in such activities it
is very pivotal to first address the national question. As long as blacks are
powerless, a black man’s child is bound to be systematically excluded from
participation in sports and recreational activities both domestically and
globally. And I want to state unapologetically that the problem is not with the
child’s ability to perform but the problem is the opportunities the system
gives to its citizenry. The economic disparities inevitably afford others (whites
and black middle class, but whites in particular) an opportunity to shine
domestically and globally while others as Biko puts it “are standing on the
touch lines in a game they suppose to play”. What society fails to understand
in this situation is that the shining of others while others are spectators
subjects the spectators to a psychological strain. It is an aspiration of any
child to discover his / her ability, polish the ability and glimmer within his
group (all those gifted with that ability) but when the economic powerlessness
of the child becomes an albatross to the manifestation of the gift and the
fulfilment of the dream the child goes through a self blaming process. He
literary inflicts internal pain upon himself for the failures to achieve what
others are achieving. He thinks he is not gifted enough, he thinks there is
something wrong with his genetical or biological make up and that causes a very
big harm which we as society cannot easily detect. Most dangerously the failure
of the child to manifest his gift to national and global level subjects him to
an inferiority complex. He begin to see those who have resources to polish the
gift as more intelligent, more gifted and ultimately you have a demotivated
child who then decides to do something he never dreamed of. These are people
whose dreams die every day because of powerlessness and my argument is that in
order for us to mobilise society into sport and recreation – the national
question becomes very relevant.
Our lethargical
spirit and or unwillingness to attend to the national question will inevitably invite
psychological misery to the black child – society is bound to blame him (victim)
for not participating, let alone excelling. A black man’s child is likely to be
labelled lazy, ignorant and many other criticism that come but forgetting to
ask significant questions like, how many Hockey fields do blacks have in black
townships? Do black people have Tennis pitch? Do black people have cricket
pitch? Do black people have community swimming pools where the state assist
those who want to partake in swimming lessons? Do we have recreational schools
to play a symbolical institutional motivation to a demotivated black community?
The list of questions goes on and if we seriously think a black child will be
motivated somehow despite the fact that there is nothing to motivate him then I
think we are unfair, uncritical and direct inflictors of black psychological
trauma. I argue again that through this silent violence we inflict - we become
an enemy to a black child.
Steve Biko
has taught us that Black Consciousness as a philosophy is a two stage process
and the first being “psychological liberation” through the liberation from
oppression by ourselves and physical liberation to dismantle physical
oppression accruing from out of living in a white racist society and Biko
insisted that self liberation from psychological oppression had to precede the
taking up of arms.
It is this
psychological liberation stage that convinces me that despite the powerlessness
of blacks the psychological liberation of a black man will give him the
confidence to stand even against those who “have” and compete fully knowing that
he is not less gifted than any of them but that his economic conditions prevent
him an opportunity to do more. This psychological liberation was manifested
“In 1936 the United States sent eighteen
black athletes to Germany for the Olympics. African-Americans dominated the
popular track and field events. Many American journalists hailed the victories
of Jesse Owens and other Blacks as a blow to the Nazi myth of Aryan supremacy.
Goebbels's press censorship prevented German reporters
from expressing their prejudices freely, but one leading Nazi newspaper
demeaned the Black athletes by referring to them as "auxiliaries."
The continuing social and economic discrimination the Black medalists faced
upon returning home underscored the irony of their victory in racist Germany.” This I argue is a manifestation of a liberated mindset. Had
the black athletes been suffering from an inferiority complex, if they had not
had confidence in their black gift, black mind, black strength and black hope
my argument is that they would not have won. One can never approach whiteness
with inferiority. One has to be courageous and take pride in his human form
with its black skin. And
the story of John Woodruff speaking about his experiences is a manifestation of a
liberated child – here’s what he had to say after the 1936 Olympics in Germany –
“It was the first time I'd ever taken a boat anywhere. Most of the
blacks came from poor families, you see. None of us came from any wealthy
homes, or middle class homes, most all from poor families. Jesse [Owens] came from a poor family too. I was
very nervous for a young man, 21 years old, I'd never been so far away from
home. My only objective was any time I got into a race was to win. And that's
what I did. Determination. That's what it takes. Light a fire in the stomach. I
was winning for me and I was winning for the country. Me first, then the
country. It was very definitely a special feeling in winning the gold medal and
being a black man. We destroyed his [Hitler's] master race theory, whenever we
start winning those gold medals. So I was very proud of that achievement and I
was very happy, for myself as an individual, for my race, and for my country.
After the Olympics, we had a track meet to run at Annapolis, at the Naval
Academy. Now here I am, an Olympic champion, and they told the coach that I
couldn't run. I couldn't come. So I had to stay home, because of
discrimination. That let me know just what the situation was. Things hadn't
changed. Things hadn't changed.”
What
we need to do as a country is to pose questions, even sensitive at times about
every program of action and how does it address the national question. If our
programs do not translate to the regaining of black power, I do not think they
deserve our attention, they do not deserve our energy, they do not deserve our
commitment and support.
While
whites enjoy the privileges which put them steps advanced than a black child we
blacks our only hope lies in the success of the psychological liberation stage.
This is when we approach whatever sport code with a liberated mindset fully
knowing that had the economic condition allow us to have tennis courts and
swimming pools in our own backyards we would be doing more than this, it is
only when we have this mindset that we will begin to extricate ourselves from
the self blaming process. Our success thereafter confirms Biko’s words “true
psychological liberation comes through action”.
Ayanda
Gladile is the Chairperson of the Black Students for Uhuru and he writes this
article on his personal capacity.
