the black consciousness movement essay grade 12

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HSTORY T2 Gr. 12 Black Consciousness Essay

Grade 12: The Challenge of Black Consciousness to the Apartheid State (Essay) PPT

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Steve Biko and the Black Consciousness Movement Grade 12 Essay Guide (Question and Answers)

Black Consciousness Movement Grade 12 Essay Guide (Question and Answers) and Summary: The Black Consciousness Movement (BCM) was a grassroots anti-Apartheid activist movement that emerged in South Africa in the mid-1960s out of the political vacuum created by the jailing and banning of the African National Congress and Pan Africanist Congress leadership after the Sharpeville Massacre in 1960.

Steve Biko and the Black Consciousness Movement Summary: A Legacy of Empowerment and Resistance

Stephen Bantu Biko , born in 1946 in South Africa, was a prominent anti-apartheid activist and leader of the Black Consciousness Movement (BCM) . The movement played a crucial role in the fight against apartheid by empowering black South Africans to embrace their identity, instilling pride and self-worth, and promoting resistance against the oppressive regime. This article will discuss Biko’s life, the origins and objectives of the Black Consciousness Movement, and the lasting impact of Biko’s ideas on South Africa and beyond.

Early Life and Influences

Steve Biko grew up in a society deeply divided along racial lines. From an early age, he was exposed to the harsh realities of apartheid, which inspired his lifelong commitment to fighting against racial oppression. As a student at Lovedale High School , Biko encountered the writings of Frantz Fanon , a psychiatrist and philosopher from Martinique who advocated for the liberation of colonized peoples through mental emancipation. Fanon’s ideas influenced Biko’s development of the Black Consciousness philosophy.

Formation of the Black Consciousness Movement

In 1968, Biko co-founded the South African Students’ Organisation (SASO) with other like-minded black students. SASO aimed to provide a platform for black students to challenge apartheid and create a sense of unity among them. The organization became the backbone of the Black Consciousness Movement, which sought to empower black South Africans by encouraging them to embrace their identity and value their cultural heritage. By fostering a strong sense of self-worth, the BCM aimed to break down the psychological barriers imposed by apartheid.

Philosophy and Goals

Central to the Black Consciousness Movement was the idea that black South Africans needed to liberate themselves from the mental chains of apartheid. The movement emphasized the importance of self-reliance and self-determination, rejecting the notion that white people were necessary for the liberation of black South Africans. Instead, Biko and the BCM insisted that black people could achieve freedom by developing their own solutions to the problems caused by apartheid.

Biko often spoke about the need to redefine “blackness” as a positive identity, fostering pride and unity among black South Africans. He also believed that social, political, and economic empowerment were essential for the liberation of black people, and that these goals could be achieved through community-based projects and initiatives.

Arrest, Death, and Legacy

The South African government saw Steve Biko and the Black Consciousness Movement as a significant threat to the apartheid regime. In 1973, Biko was banned from participating in political activities and confined to the Eastern Cape. Despite these restrictions, he continued to work clandestinely to advance the goals of the movement.

In August 1977, Biko was arrested, and on September 12, he died from a brain injury sustained while in police custody. His death sparked international outrage and galvanized the anti-apartheid movement, drawing global attention to the brutalities of the apartheid regime.

Today, Steve Biko is remembered as a martyr and a symbol of resistance against racial oppression. The Black Consciousness Movement played a crucial role in the fight against apartheid by empowering black South Africans to take control of their destiny. Biko’s ideas continue to inspire generations of activists worldwide, who strive for social justice and the eradication of racial inequality.

How Essays are Assessed in Grade 12

The essay will be assessed holistically (globally). This approach requires the teacher to score the overall product as a whole, without scoring the component parts separately. This approach encourages the learner to offer an individual opinion by using selected factual evidence to support an argument. The learner will not be required to simply regurgitate ‘facts’ in order to achieve a high mark. This approach discourages learners from preparing ‘model’ answers and reproducing them without taking into account the specific requirements of the question. Holistic marking of the essay credits learners’ opinions supported by evidence. Holistic assessment, unlike content-based marking, does not penalise language inadequacies as the emphasis is on the following:

• The construction of an argument
• The appropriate selection of factual evidence to support such an argument
• The learner’s interpretation of the question.

Steve Biko: Black Consciousness Movement Grade 12 Essay s Topics

Topic: the challenge of black consciousness to the apartheid state.

Introduction

K ey Definitions

• Civil protest : Opposition (usually against the current government’s policy) by ordinary citizens of a country
• Uprising : Mass action against government policy
• Bantu Homelands : Regions identified under the apartheid system as so-called homelands for different cultural and linguistic groups.
• Prohibition : order by which something may not be done; prohibit; declared illegal
• Resistance : When an individual or group of people work together against specific domination
• Exile : When someone is banished from their country

(Background)

• “South Africa as an apartheid state in 1970 to 1980
• 1978 PW Botha and launched his “Total Strategy”
• There were limited powers granted to the Colored, Indians and black township councils to ensure economic and political white supremacy
• Despite these reforms, Africans still did not gain any political rights outside their homelands
• Government’s response to violence against government reform policies – the declaration of a state of emergency in 1985:
• Banishment of the ANC and PAC to Sharpeville in 1960 – Underground Organizations
• Leaders of the Liberation Movements were in prisons or in exile
• New legislation – Terrorism Act – increases apartheid government’s power to suppress political opposition •Detention without trial – leads to the deaths of many activists
• Torture of activists in custody
• Increasing militarization within the country
• Bantu education ensures a low-paid labour force •Apartheid regime had total control
• In the late 1960s there was a new kind of resistance – The Black Consciousness Movement

( Nature and Objectives of Black Consciousness )

• In the late 1970s, a new generation of black students began to organize resistance
• Many were students at “forest college” established under the Bantu education system for black students such as the University of Zululand and the University of the North
• They accepted the Black Consciousness philosophy
• The term “black” was a direct dispute with the apartheid term “non-white”.
• “Black people” were all who were oppressed by apartheid – including Indians and coloured people

Black Consciousness Movement Grade 12 Questions

Question 1: how did the ideas of the black consciousness movement challenge the apartheid regime in the 1970.

How to answer and get good marks?

• Learners must use relevant evidence e.g. Uses relevant evidence that shows a thorough understanding of how the ideas of Black Consciousness challenged the apartheid regime in the 1970s .
• Learners must also use evidence very effectively in an organised paragraph that shows an understanding of the topic

When you answer, you should not ignore the following key facts where applicable:

• Black Consciousness wanted black South Africans to do things for themselves
• Black Consciousness wanted black South Africans to act independently of other races x Self-reliance promoted self-pride among black South Africans

SASO references can also be applicable (if sources are presented)

• SASO was formed to propagate the ideas of Black Consciousness
• To safeguard and promote the interests of black South Africans students
• SASO was based on the philosophy of Black Consciousness
• SASO was associated with Steve Biko
• SASO encouraged black South Africans students to be self-assertive

Question 2: How did the truth and reconciliation commision assist South Africa to come in terms with the past?

• To ensure healing and reconciliation among victims and perpetrators of political violence through confession
• The TRC encouraged the truth to be told
• Hoped to bring about forgiveness through healing
• To bring about ‘Reconciliation and National Unity’ among all South Africans
• Any other relevant response.

Download Black Consciousness Movement Grade 12 Essay Guide (Question and Answers) on pdf format

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https://artsandculture.google.com/exhibit/steve-biko-the-black-consciousness-movement-steve-biko-foundation/AQp2i2l5?hl=en

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Black-Consciousness-movement

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Black consciousness movement grade 12 essay guide (question and answers).

Black Consciousness Movement Grade 12 Essay Guide (Question and Answers): The Black Consciousness Movement (BCM) was a grassroots anti-Apartheid activist movement that emerged in South Africa in the mid-1960s out of the political vacuum created by the jailing and banning of the African National Congress and Pan Africanist Congress leadership after the Sharpeville Massacre in 1960.

• 1 How Essays are Assessed in Grade 12
• 2.1 Question 1: How did the ideas of the black consciousness movement challenge the apartheid regime in the 1970?
• 2.2 Question 2: How did the truth and reconciliation commision assist South Africa to come in terms with the past?
• 3 More relevant sources
• 4 Questions and Answers

How Essays are Assessed in Grade 12

The essay will be assessed holistically (globally). This approach requires the teacher to score the overall product as a whole, without scoring the component parts separately. This approach encourages the learner to offer an individual opinion by using selected factual evidence to support an argument. The learner will not be required to simply regurgitate ‘facts’ in order to achieve a high mark. This approach discourages learners from preparing ‘model’ answers and reproducing them without taking into account the specific requirements of the question. Holistic marking of the essay credits learners’ opinions supported by evidence. Holistic assessment, unlike content-based marking, does not penalise language inadequacies as the emphasis is on the following:

• The construction of an argument
• The appropriate selection of factual evidence to support such an argument
• The learner’s interpretation of the question.

Black Consciousness Movement Grade 12 Questions

Question 1: how did the ideas of the black consciousness movement challenge the apartheid regime in the 1970.

How to answer and get good marks?

• Learners must use relevant evidence e.g. Uses relevant evidence that shows a thorough understanding of how the ideas of Black Consciousness challenged the apartheid regime in the 1970s .
• Learners must also use evidence very effectively in an organised paragraph that shows an understanding of the topic

When you answer, you should not ignore the following key facts where applicable:

• Black Consciousness wanted black South Africans to do things for themselves
• Black Consciousness wanted black South Africans to act independently of other races x Self-reliance promoted self-pride among black South Africans

SASO references can also be applicable (if sources are presented)

• SASO was formed to propagate the ideas of Black Consciousness
• To safeguard and promote the interests of black South Africans students
• SASO was based on the philosophy of Black Consciousness
• SASO was associated with Steve Biko
• SASO encouraged black South Africans students to be self-assertive

Question 2: How did the truth and reconciliation commision assist South Africa to come in terms with the past?

• To ensure healing and reconciliation among victims and perpetrators of political violence through confession
• The TRC encouraged the truth to be told
• Hoped to bring about forgiveness through healing
• To bring about ‘Reconciliation and National Unity’ among all South Africans
• Any other relevant response.

Download Black Consciousness Movement Grade 12 Essay Guide (Question and Answers) on pdf format

More relevant sources

https://artsandculture.google.com/exhibit/steve-biko-the-black-consciousness-movement-steve-biko-foundation/AQp2i2l5?hl=en

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Black-Consciousness-movement

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1970s: Black Consciousness Movement in South Africa

Teachers and learners should note that there are many links on this site which deal with the depth and breadth of the Black Consciousness Movement in South Africa. This Grade 12 classroom section gives a broad outline of the content required for the school curriculum. For more detail, and for research sites for your Continuous Assessment Tasks, you should refer to the links suggested in this section, particularly SAHO's Black Consciousness Movement feature.

This background section is a short summary of events in South Africa in the decades preceding the 1970s. It is not part of your Grade 12 curriculum, but simply serves to refresh your memory about what you learnt in Grade 9.

Apartheid in South Africa

The National Party come to power in 1948 and governed the country according to apartheid laws. Apartheid literally means 'apartness'. It was a policy designed to keep white South Africans separate and to oppress black South Africans.

People can be divided into many different kinds of groups, for example, males and females, rich and poor, young and old, and so on. Apartheid divided South Africans into groups according to skin colour. Apartheid was based on racism and built on the prejudice that white people were superior to everyone else.

According to the Population Registration Act of 1950 , every person had to be classified and registered as White, Coloured, Indian/Asiatic or 'Native'. 'Native' was later labelled 'Bantu' and still later 'Black' by the apartheid government.

The use of capital letters for each group reinforced the government's ideology - that 'race groups' are rigid and fixed.

The whites-only government made the laws and held all the positions of power. Apartheid laws affected every detail of the lives of all South Africans. Laws controlled who had power, who could vote, where people lived, worked and were educated. The best land, resources, facilities and amenities were reserved for whites and laws were brutally implemented.

White people's lives became better, while black people experienced more and more hardship. The state empowered whites economically, while black people were deliberately denied access to wealth creation.

Not all whites supported apartheid, and not all black people actively resisted it. Some white people participated actively in the struggle against apartheid, while some black people co-operated with the apartheid state, usually in exchange for financial reward.

Apartheid government Prime Ministers were:

The government changed in constitution from 1979 under the next Prime Minister, P.W. Botha. The head of government was now called the President:

State repression always went hand in hand with resistance. As early as 1902, a political organization called the APO was founded and demanded rights for 'coloured' people. The ANC or African National Congress was formed in 1912. The South African Indian Congress was formed in 1923 to struggle for Indian rights.

These organisations peacefully resisted the laws that discriminated against all black people. Resistance took the form of peaceful protests like boycotts, petitions and strikes. The nature of resistance was passive and non-violent up until the early 1960s.

What is racism?

South Africa's population was divided up in 1948 as follows:

69% African 21% White 8 % Coloured 2 % Indian

Total population: 11,415,945

The apartheid system and the division of the population were built on racism. Racism is the false idea that certain groups of people are better than others. Racists divide the human race into different 'race groups' and believe that it is acceptable to exclude or dominate 'inferior groups' on the grounds of their 'race'.

Most people take it for granted that all humankind can be divided into 'races', but the concept of 'human races' is not scientific. Physical features like skin colour, hair type and facial shape do not relate to how people think or behave.

Clearly, not all people look the same. Some are tall and others are short. Our skin colours and hair textures are different, and we have different facial features. Scientists say these differences developed through evolutionary changes about 150 000 years ago. People developed differently according to the environments they lived in.

For example, people living in parts of the world where it is hot developed darker skins to protect them from the rays of the sun. People living in colder climates have short, stout bodies to keep in heat and pale skins, as there is less sunlight.

The genes or chemical codes in the nucleus of all living things determine the colour of our skin. The genes that determine skin colour are as important as the genes that determine the size of our toes.

Many people argue that the word 'race' should no longer be used for the following reasons:

Most scientists today would say that there is no such thing as race.

The misuse of the term 'race' to classify people has gone hand in hand with disregard for human rights. This has resulted in cruel behaviour towards those regarded as 'inferior'.

These racial categories that were used to label us in the apartheid era have in many ways become part of our identities and how we think about ourselves. As the laws that existed were applied according to these categories, it is impossible to write a history of South Africa without using racial labels.

The United Nations Organisation was formed at the end of the Second World War. The United Nations Declaration of Human Rights confirms:

The inherent dignity and worth of the human person

The equal rights all members of the human family

That we should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

The National Party apartheid government came to power in the same year that the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Apartheid laws ignored every one of the rights recognised in this Declaration, and the South African government did not sign the UDHR. The United Nations declared apartheid a 'crime against humanity'.

In 1957, a Declaration of Conscience was issued by more than 100 leaders from every continent. The Declaration was an appeal to South Africa to bring its policies into line with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations.

The Declaration began the slow process of mobilising world sentiment against apartheid. South African democrats, of all colours, felt supported and many white racists learned for the first time how isolated they were.

You can read more about the international struggle against apartheid in the Grade 12 section on South Africa the 1980s.

Resistance to apartheid in the 1950's

The majority of South Africans experienced apartheid as a negative, harsh, unjust system. The National Party government forbade resistance to its laws.

Many people have used non-violence in South Africa and in other countries to demonstrate their demand for change. The life and work of M.K Gandhi , who lived in South Africa between 1893 and 1914, has inspired many non-violent movements, including the Civil Rights Movement in the United States .

In the 1950s, people continued to resist without violence. Protests were met with state repression, such as banning, arrests, stricter laws and police violence.

In 1955, an important document called The Freedom Charter was agreed upon at the Congress of the People in Kliptown, Soweto. The Congress of the People was a joint anti-apartheid movement including; the African National Congress, the (white) Congress of Democrats, the Coloured People's Congress, and the South African Indian Congress. In the following year many members of the Alliance were arrested and charged with treason.

The policies set out in the Charter included a demand for a multi-racial, democratically elected government. Africanist members of the ANC rejected the Freedom Charter and broke away to form the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) in 1959.

Resistance in the 1960s

a. The Sharpeville Massacre

By 1958, nearly one and a half million Africans were being convicted under the pass laws every year. By 1960, two of the political organisations resisting apartheid, the ANC and the PAC, organised anti-pass campaigns. The PAC organised a demonstration on 21 March 1960.

On 21 March 1960, thousands of people gathered outside the police station in Sharpeville (near Vereeniging), offering themselves up for arrest for not carrying their pass books. The police opened fire on the crowd, and at the end of the day, 69 people were dead and nearly 200 wounded.  Most of those killed had been shot in the back as they tried to flee. The massacre made international headlines.

b. Philip Kgosana and the march to Cape Town

After the Sharpeville massacre, tensions began mounting in the Cape Town African townships of Nyanga and Langa.

Philip Kgosana , a leader of the PAC in Cape Town, was 23 years old when he lead a march of 30 000 people from Langa to the city centre of Cape Town on 30 March, 1960 (9 days after the Sharpeville massacre). In Cape Town, he met with the police chief on behalf of the marchers. The police chief promised to set up a meeting between Kgosana and the Minister of Justice, on condition that the marchers returned home.

Philip Kgosana convinced the crowd to walk back home. When he arrived for the promised meeting with the Minister of Justice the following day, he was arrested. At the end of 1960, he was allowed out on temporary bail to visit his family in the Transvaal for Christmas. He used this opportunity to flee the country and began a life in exile.

c. The banning of the ANC and PAC and the formation of Umkhonto weSizwe and Poqo

The government responded to the 1960 anti-pass protests by banning the ANC and PAC .

Many people began to feel it was useless for the ANC and PAC to continue using non-violence against a government that responded with violent attacks on unarmed people.

The ANC established an underground armed movement known as Umkhonto weSizwe (MK) or the Spear of the Nation, which was led by Nelson Mandela. Between 1961 and 1963, MK attacked over 200 non-civilian targets throughout South Africa. The targets included government buildings and other property, like electricity pylons. People were not initially attacked.

In August 1962, Nelson Mandela was captured by the police. In June 1963, other leaders of Umkhonto weSizwe, including Walter Sisulu, Govan Mbeki, Raymond Mhlaba and Ahmed Kathrada were arrested in Rivonia, Johannesburg. They were charged and tried in the famous Rivonia Trial . They were sentenced to life imprisonment in June 1964.

The PAC formed an armed wing called Poqo . They are less well-known today but also played an important role in SA history.

Robert Sobukwe was the founding president of the Pan Africanist Congress. Some of his ideas later inspired Steve Biko and the Black Consciousness Movement .

Sobukwe was put on trial for his role in the anti-pass campaign and sentenced to three years in prison in Pretoria. After completing his three-year sentence, Sobukwe was detained by a special Act of Parliament called the 'Sobukwe Clause', and transferred to Robben Island.

The 'Sobukwe Clause' was approved annually. On the Island, he was completely isolated from the other political prisoners. After Sobukwe's release from the Island, he was sent to Kimberley, a place where he had never lived before, and kept under house arrest until his death in 1978.

In the 1960s, after the Rivonia Trial and Sobukwe's arrest, organised resistance to apartheid within South Africa slowed down. Many anti-apartheid leaders and supporters were in jail or had gone into exile. However, in the 1970s, a new movement called Black Consciousness or BC led to renewed resistance.

The movement was led by a man called Steve Biko . BC encouraged all black South Africans to recognize their inherent dignity and self-worth. In the 1970s, the Black Consciousness Movement spread from university campuses into urban black communities throughout South Africa.

Biko was banned in 1973. This meant that he was not allowed to speak to more than one person at a time, was restricted to certain areas, and could not make speeches in public. It was also forbidden to quote anything he said, including speeches or simple conversations, or to otherwise mention him.

In spite of the repression of the apartheid government, Biko and the BCM played a large role in inspiring protests, which led to the Soweto Uprising on 16 June 1976 .

What is Black Consciousness?

In 1959, when Robert Sobukwe and others broke away from the African National Congress to form the Pan African Congress, they argued against the non-racial stance of the Freedom Charter, and for the African leadership of the freedom struggle. Many of Sobukwe's ideas influenced the Black Consciousness Movement which developed in South Africa in the 1970s.

Black Consciousness is a global movement which aimed to restore black consciousness and African consciousness, which had been suppressed by slavery, colonialism and racism.

The Black Consciousness Movement was an understanding that black liberation would not only come from structural political changes, but also from psychological transformation in the minds of black people. It was not enough to just believe in and fight for freedom. To take real power, black people had to believe in themselves and the value of their blackness.

The term Black Consciousness was originally used by an American educator and Civil Rights activist named W. E. B. Du Bois . He said that people of African origin should take pride in their blackness. Du Bois explained that African Americans had a 'double consciousness' which corrodes their sense of identity. Black identity had been influenced by:

The stereotypes and misrepresentations of black Americans as weak, stupid and cowardly, by dominant white American culture.

Racism experienced by black Americans excluded them from mainstream society.

The internal conflict experienced by African Americans between being African and American simultaneously.

Double consciousness is an awareness of one's self, and an awareness of how others perceive you and expect you to behave. The danger of double consciousness for Blacks was in changing their identities according to how whites perceived them.

After the Second World War, Pan Africanism swept through colonized Africa. The Uhuru Movement called for "Africa for the Africans" and independence from colonial rule.

During the 1960s and 1970s most of Africa's colonies became politically independent, but South Africa remained under the firm grip of apartheid.

The Black Consciousness Movement began to develop in South Africa during the late 1960s. The ANC was committed to an armed struggle, but Umkhonto we Sizwe was not able to seize and hold territory in South Africa, nor to win significant concessions from the apartheid regime.

The ANC had been banned, and although the Freedom Charter remained in circulation in spite of attempts to censor it, for many South Africans, the ANC had disappeared. As black people continued to struggle against apartheid, Biko and other Black Consciousness theorists began to engage with the meaning of blackness itself.

BC also drew on the rhetoric and ideology of black power and black theology coming out of the United States in the 1960s.

Biko was inspired by some of Robert Sobukwe's ideas. He was also influenced by the ideas of Du Bois and Marcus Garvey, as well as thinkers such as Frantz Fanon, Léopold Senghor,Aimé Césaire, Amilcar Cabral, and the American Black Panther Party .

Biko's ideology reflects the concern for the existential struggle of a black person as a proud and dignified human being, in spite of the oppression of colonialism and apartheid. Biko saw the struggle to restore African consciousness as having two stages:

Psychological liberation

Physical liberation

An important part of psychological liberation was to insist that black people lead black liberation movements. This meant rejecting the non-racialism of the ANC. Whites could offer understanding and support, but could not lead or belong to the Black Consciousness Movement. It was argued that even well-intentioned white people, often unwittingly, re-enacted the paternalism of the society in which they lived. Biko stressed that in a racist society, black people had to first liberate themselves and gain psychological, physical and political power for themselves before non-racial organizations could truly be non-racial.

A parallel can be seen in the United States, where Malcolm X, the American Black Power leader, also rejected white participation.

As Steve Biko said:

'We are aware that the white man is sitting at our table. We know he has no right there, we want to remove him from our table ... decorate it in true African style, settle down and ask him to join us on our terms if he wishes'.

With regard to physical liberation, at times Biko agreed with the non-violent tactics of M.K Gandhi and Martin Luther King. However, Biko understood the political control and formidable military might of the apartheid regime, so non-violence was a strategic move, rather than a personal conviction.

For Biko, Black South-Africans included those classified as Indians and Coloureds. Biko advocated the eradication of the stereotypes and inter-group suspicions amongst all oppressed South Africans. Oppression existed in varying degrees against those who were classified 'non-white' as a deliberate means by which the apartheid government divided the oppressed among themselves. Biko stated that:

"Being black is not a matter of pigmentation - being black is a reflection of a mental attitude. 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.ÁƒÂ¢Á¢Â‚¬ Source: www.azapo.org.za

Steve Biko observed that Black Africans seemed to be defeated and had been "reduced to an obliging shell". Black Consciousness was not black racism, and did not call for vengeance on white society. BC aimed to cultivate a sense of solidarity and pride in black South Africans.

Along with political action, a major component of the Black Consciousness Movement was its Black Community Programs, which included the organization of community medical clinics, aiding entrepreneurs, and holding "consciousness" classes and adult education literacy classes.

Dr Mamphela Ramphele started her career as a student activist in the Black Consciousness Movement. She was especially involved in organizing and working with community development programmes. She and Biko had a long romantic relationship, although Biko was married at the time. He and Ramphele had two children, the first, a girl, Lerato (1974), died at two months. Their son, Hlumelo Biko, was born in 1978, after Biko's death.

From 1977 to 1984 Dr Ramphele was banished by the apartheid government to Lenyenye near Tzaneen where she continued doing community work with the rural poor and established the Ithuseng Community Health Programme.

The state suppression of the BCM after the Soweto Uprising in 1976 , and Biko's death while in police custody in 1977, weakened the organizational base of the movement. Many of its supporters went into exile and the majority joined the African National Congress (ANC), the largest movement fighting for majority rule in South Africa.

The PAC's Azanian People's Liberation Army (APLA), the successor to Poqo , was also active in exile. However, the ANC's MK grew over the years in international and national stature and became the more powerful liberation movement.

1976 Soweto Uprising

This is a very brief summary of the Soweto Uprising. There are many articles and photographs on this site which you should refer to.

Soweto stands for South-West Townships, and lies to the south west of Johannesburg. It was a township set up by the government for black Africans to live in. Today, the events in Soweto and around the country in 1976 are remembered in a public holiday called Youth Day every year on June 16 in South Africa.

Although he did not directly take part in the Soweto riots, Steve Biko's BC ideas motivated students. On the morning of 16 June 1976 twenty thousand school children in Soweto went on a protest march. They were protesting against having to use Afrikaans as one of the languages of instruction at school. One young student said at the time:

"In 1973 I was doing Form One (Grade 8). We were taught Maths in Afrikaans - not all subjects were taught in Afrikaans. We had difficulties; even Mr Ntshalintshali, who taught us Rekeningkunde, struggled with Afrikaans. Both teachers and learners battled with Afrikaans." - Phydian Matsepe - quoted in Soweto 16 June 1976, Elsabe Brink et al, Kwela Books, 2001

The issue of Afrikaans was just the spark that started the Uprising - the real issue was the oppressive apartheid laws.

The march started off peacefully, but later the police opened fire on the protesting students.

The media often name Hector Petersen as the first child to be shot by police. However, another boy, Hastings Ndlovu, was in fact the first child to be shot, but there were no photographers on the scene, and his name never became famous.

Activity: The poster above depicts an iconic South African image. What is an iconic image and what scene does this image represent?

The iconic image of the dying Hector Petersen, a thirteen year old boy from Orlando High, taken by press photographer Sam Nzima, was published around the world.

Chaos then broke loose throughout the whole of Soweto. Within the following week, at least 176 had died. Within the next few months, the protests and clashes with the police had spread to 160 black townships all over South Africa. 1976 was a turning point in South African history. The campaign against apartheid increased in intensity, and so did the government's repression.

Over 14,000 students left the country and went into exile. They joined Umkontho we Sizwe and APLA for military training in other countries. The liberation struggle against apartheid had new life. Resistance against apartheid increased both inside and outside South Africa.

Biko's death

The government detained Steve Biko without trial for a few months in 1976. In 1977, Biko was arrested again. Within eighteen days of his arrest, he was dead. According to the officer in charge, "there was a scuffle...Mr Biko hit his head against a wall." (It was later shown that he was brutally tortured).

News of his terrible death spread quickly across the world. It caused an international outcry and Biko became a martyr and symbol of resistance against apartheid, and a universal symbol of resistance against oppression.

A British songwriter, Peter Gabriel wrote a song called Biko, with the words:

You can blow out a candle But you can't blow out a fire Once the flames begin to catch The wind will blow it higher.

In 2007, thirty years after his death, Biko's son Nkosinathi, who manages the Steve Biko Foundation, said:

"In popular culture, he [remains] a very powerful symbol of hope ... an icon of change. He helped to articulate our understanding, our own identity that continues to resonate in young South Africans to this day. His ideas have a real influence well beyond the political field, in cultural organisations, in research organisations and in churches".

Biko's funeral was attended by diplomats from 13 Western countries, and over 10 000 South Africans from all over the country. Apartheid police roadblocks prevented thousands more from attending.

The funeral was not only a commemoration of Biko's life, but also a protest rally against apartheid.

In 1997, Biko's killers appeared before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) to request amnesty for the death of the student leader. However, they only claimed responsibility for assaulting him and maintained that his death was accidental. They also testified that they lied about his date of death. Biko's family opposed the TRC hearings on the grounds that they would rob them of justice.

Shifting political alliances in the late 1970s

In the 1960s, the apartheid government decided to take away the South African citizenship of Africans by creating 'homelands'. Africans were divided into 'ethnic groups' such as Zulu, Xhosa, Tswana or Sesotho. The already existing 'native reserves' were to be turned into 'independent states' for each 'ethnic group'.

The word 'Bantustan' was a negative word used to describe these 'native reserves'. Bantustan is used in a mocking way because people who lived in the Bantustans did not have real power and few supported the leaders. None of these Bantustans were recognised by the outside world.

The government's aim was the total removal of the African population from South Africa. Connie Mulder, Minister of Plural Relations and Development said:

There will be not one black man with South African citizenship ... Every black man in South Africa will eventually live in some independent new state. There will no longer be an obligation on this Parliament to accommodate these people politically.

People were forced to move to the Bantustans, and dumped in the middle of nowhere with inadequate facilities. Millions of people were moved by the police and the army so they would fall within the boundary of an 'independent' Bantustan.

In this attempt to divide black South Africans, the KwaZulu 'homeland' was created for Zulus. In 1976, Mangosuthu (Gatsha) Buthelezi was named chief minister of KwaZulu, and the white government declared KwaZulu a self-governing territory a year later. Buthelezi established good relations with the National Party government, but refused to take 'independence'.

Buthelezi had been a member of the ANC Youth League, and in those days, had befriended leaders in the anti-apartheid struggle. He attended Sobukwe's funeral in Graaff Reinet in 1978. At the funeral, Buthelezi was jeered at and stoned by young militant Black Consciousness followers.

Desmond Tutu , at the time the Bishop of Lesotho, was a speaker at the funeral, and he advised Buthelezi to leave. The humiliated chief was taken to safety, but in the process, one of his bodyguards shot and wounded three of the mourners. The incident signalled a split between Buthelezi and the ANC, as the ANC did not want to alienate the young Black Consciousness followers that were joining the ANC in exile after the 1976 Soweto Uprising.

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Black Consciousness Movement Grade 12 Essay

Black Consciousness Movement Grade 12 Essay:

Quick Facts to Consider Before Writing an Essay on Black Consciousness Movement:

• Founded by Steve Biko : The Black Consciousness Movement (BCM) was founded by Steve Biko in the late 1960s to promote black pride and unity in South Africa.
• Response to Apartheid : The BCM emerged as a response to the apartheid regime’s policies of racial segregation and the suppression of black political activism.
• Philosophy of Self-Emancipation : Central to the BCM’s philosophy was the idea that black South Africans needed to emancipate themselves psychologically before seeking physical liberation from apartheid.
• SASO : The movement started with the formation of the South African Students’ Organization (SASO) in 1968, focusing initially on black universities and colleges.
• Black Community Programs : BCM activists initiated community programs aimed at improving education, health, and economic conditions in black communities.
• Banned in 1977 : The South African government banned the BCM and related organizations in 1977, following the Soweto Uprising .
• Soweto Uprising 1976 : The BCM played a significant role in inspiring the Soweto Uprising, where thousands of black students protested against the apartheid education system.
• Death of Steve Biko : Steve Biko died in police custody in 1977, becoming a martyr for the anti-apartheid movement and bringing international attention to the cause.
• Focus on Black Identity : The BCM promoted a strong sense of black identity, encouraging self-reliance and pride among black South Africans.
• Opposition to White Liberalism : Biko and the BCM were critical of white liberalism, arguing that it perpetuated black dependency and hindered genuine liberation.
• Influence on Music and Art : The movement influenced South African music and art, fostering a culture of resistance that expressed the struggles and aspirations of black South Africans.
• Global Impact : The ideas and activism of the BCM influenced anti-racism movements worldwide, including the civil rights movement in the United States.
• Revival of Black Activism : The BCM revitalized black political activism in South Africa during a period when other anti-apartheid organizations were banned and suppressed.
• Continued Relevance : The principles and ideals of the BCM continue to influence South African society and politics in the post-apartheid era.
• Legacy of Empowerment : The BCM left a lasting legacy of empowerment, teaching future generations the importance of self-awareness, identity, and unity in the struggle for justice and equality.

The Black Consciousness Movement (BCM) represents a pivotal chapter in South Africa’s history, particularly in the struggle against apartheid. Spearheaded by Steve Biko in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the BCM sought to empower black South Africans and dismantle the psychological chains of apartheid. This essay delves into the origins, key philosophies, and impacts of the BCM, shedding light on its enduring legacy in South Africa’s journey towards freedom and equality.

Origins of the Black Consciousness Movement

The BCM emerged in a period of intense political repression in South Africa. Following the Sharpeville Massacre in 1960 and the subsequent banning of major anti-apartheid organizations like the African National Congress (ANC) and the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) , the anti-apartheid struggle faced a significant vacuum. It was within this context that the BCM arose, initially as a movement focusing on the liberation of the black psyche from the shackles of racial inferiority imposed by apartheid ideology.

Key Philosophies of the BCM

Central to the BCM was the belief that before physical liberation, black South Africans needed to be liberated from the inferiority complex instilled by apartheid . Steve Biko, the most prominent figure of the BCM, advocated for a strong sense of black identity and self-reliance. According to Biko, “Black Consciousness is an attitude of the mind and a way of life , the most positive call to emanate from the black world for a long time.”

The BCM emphasized the importance of black people defining their own identity and destiny, free from the perceptions and constraints imposed by a white-dominated society. It aimed to foster a sense of pride, self-worth, and unity among black South Africans, encouraging them to become their own liberators.

Impact and Legacy

The BCM had a profound impact on South Africa’s socio-political landscape. Its emphasis on black pride and unity inspired a new generation of activists and played a crucial role in revitalizing the anti-apartheid struggle during the 1970s. The movement’s influence was notably evident in the Soweto Uprising of 1976, where thousands of black students, motivated by the principles of the BCM, protested against the compulsory use of Afrikaans in schools. This event marked a significant turning point in the struggle against apartheid, highlighting the power and resilience of South Africa’s youth.

Tragically, the apartheid regime brutally suppressed the BCM, and in 1977, Steve Biko died in police custody, becoming a martyr for the cause. Despite this, the ideas of the BCM continued to inspire resistance against apartheid, both within South Africa and internationally.

The legacy of the BCM extends beyond the apartheid era. It contributed significantly to the development of black South African identity and has continued to influence post-apartheid South Africa in the realms of politics, culture, and education. The movement’s emphasis on pride, unity, and self-determination remains relevant as the country continues to navigate the challenges of inequality and national reconciliation.

The Black Consciousness Movement stands as a testament to the power of self-awareness and unity in the face of systemic oppression. By empowering black South Africans to reclaim their identity and dignity, the BCM played a crucial role in the broader struggle against apartheid. Its legacy, epitomized by the life and work of Steve Biko, continues to inspire future generations to strive for a society characterized by equality, justice, and mutual respect. As South Africa moves forward, the principles of the BCM serve as a reminder of the importance of consciousness, identity, and the indomitable spirit of resistance in the pursuit of true liberation.

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The Black Consciousness Movement Essay Grade 12

How to answer “The Black Consciousness Movement Essay Grade 12” correctly?

Let us look at the magic term: Essay . When a question asks a student to write an “essay,” they (students) are expected to provide a structured and well-organised piece of writing that presents and supports a main idea or a position. The essay should have an introduction that introduces the topic and states the position or a side of the writer, body paragraphs that support the thesis or position with evidence and examples based on their country of South Africa, and a conclusion that summarises the main points and restates the position (good/bad). For higher marks, the essay should demonstrate critical thinking, a paragraph with history or background of the topic, and all should be written with clarity and simple english for better understanding.

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Black Consciousness Movement vs. Apartheid in South Africa Essay

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Introduction

The system of apartheid, the movement, the influence.

31 years ago, in September 1977, Bantu Stephen Biko, a young ­ black activist, and a fighter against apartheid in South­ Africa have been killed in police torture chambers. Although he was only ­ one of many young black figures of resistance who have become victims of the special forces of the police in South Africa, he, undoubtedly, was one of the great prophets of his generation­. More than 20 000 people from all of the country have gathered to honor his memory at the funeral – having collected, thus, one of ­ the most mass demonstrations in South Africa in the seventies.

Outside of South Africa, the news about his death has stirred up a wave of criticism against the policy of apartheid. Biko called for consciousness awakening, considering ­ it as a means of resistance to oppression, against ­ reconciliation with existence within a system that was based on inequality. He has gone through the way from an activist of one of the student’s organizations, which united black and white­ students, to the leader and the ideologist of one of the largest ­ protest movements in South Africa which struggled and fought for blacks’ rights­. The short life – 30 years which has been taken away – Biko has devoted to the dethronement of apartheid’s defects, the system ­ of a social organization that brought sufferings to the black population of South Africa.

In his representation, the black ­ consciousness is a way to resist racism not only ­ by the rallying of the oppressed black majority, but also ­ by the realized formation of the fundamentally excellent system of social relations: “Black Consciousness is, in essence, the realization by the black man of the need to rally together with his brothers around the cause of their operation – the blackness of their skin – and to operate as a group in order to rid themselves of the shackles that bind them to perpetual servitude.” 1

This essay despite its introduction is not about one man, it is about the movement that was influenced by a man and played a major role in the revival of resistance to apartheid in South Africa with the main idea that the ideology of Black Consciousness was the basis of African resistances towards white domination.

The system of apartheid has its roots in the 350-year-old history of religious, land, and labor conflicts. In 1652 a group of Dutch immigrants has landed on the Cape of Good Hope and has gradually based a colony with rigid social division, living at the expense of the cultivation of the fertile earth by using the labor of slaves from Africa and Asia. In 1795 the control over territory was grasped by Great Britain, and Dutch-Afrikaners have moved in the depth of the continent and have based their new colonies. In 1899-1902 the British have suppressed a revolt in what is called the Second Boer War. “The war lasted three years and resulted mainly from a combination of personal ambition, conflict over a sea route to India, and most importantly, competition for control of the gold-mining developing in Witwatersrand.” 2

After the declaration in 1910 of the Union of South Africa in which the former territories of British and the Boers have entered, the Afrikaners united under the power of the British monarch, who appeared in the majority had accepted the constitution in which basis laid the principle of the superiority of the white race. This was followed by the legislation that set the racial segregation by which almost all the land has been assigned to white owners, and the African, Asian, and “colored” population has been gradually superseded from the political life.

Following the declaration of the Union of South Africa, South African Native National Congress has been formed, and renamed in 1923 into the African National Congress, for racial discrimination counteraction, the fight for suffrage and equality while the shifting governments of the country steadily rejected its demands. Over half a century the rights of the black population were continuously denied through various acts that put further restrictions with each one released.

For example in 1913 an act called the Natives Land Act “prohibited African purchase or lease of land outside certain areas known as “reserves” 3 The Natives (Urban Areas) Act of 1923 stated that “Africans were denied freehold property rights and were only allowed in South African cities “For so long as their presence is demanded by the wants of the white population.” 4 After the power was captured in 1948 by the extremist Nationalist party which called itself the Gesuiwerde (purified) National Party formed by D.F. Malan, the system of apartheid became rooted in South Africa until 1994. The politics and policies of apartheid separated South Africa from the rest of the world through systematic and legal segregation upheld and defined by a small but powerful white bureaucracy. 5

During the apartheid regime the culture, not only youth but also public, was frequently imposed from above, instead of being developed naturally on the basis of consciousness and historical continuity. The concept of consciousness imposed from above has been multiplied by the concept of an ethnic accessory which was defined by ideology and was supported by group interests. The policy that was born from the philosophy of the iridescent nation considers the many-sided nature and dynamism of various groups and does not accept the concepts of “natural”, static and invariable group or groups as it was treated by the apartheid’s regime.

This fact allowed the black population to start positioning themselves as the others in the cultural environment that was dominated by the white population. In South Africa, this tendency was shown in the creation of the organization under the name the “Black Consciousness Movement”. Helping black people in clearing the psychological inferiority complex which prevailed centuries over them in their political thinking and activity, and, especially, in their struggle against the domination of the white is mostly attributed to Steve Biko and the Black Consciousness Movement.

The strategy of clearing of white domination and inequality, offered to the black population by Steve Biko and the Black Consciousness Movement, was focused on the principle that carrying out any changes is possible only within the limits of the program developed by the black population. For this purpose, the black population should overcome the feeling of inferiority that was intentionally cultivated by the apartheid regime with the purpose of preserving the white domination in South Africa. “The racism we meet does not only exist on an individual basis; it is also institutionalized to make it look like the South African way of life” 6

It was in this climate that Steve Biko founded the SASO as an alternate to the existing student organizations NUSAS that was not very effective recently. The white leaders of NUSAS (National Union of South African Students) acknowledged that they faced limitations in resisting apartheid and trying to represent blacks as equals 7 . Thus, the black consciousness movement began with the formation of the SASO.

The SASO Manifesto adopted in July 1971, declared that Black Consciousness was “an attitude of mind, a way of life, in which the black man saw himself as self-defined and not as defined by others”. It required “group cohesion and solidarity” so that blacks could become increasingly aware of their collective economic and political power 8 .

Black Consciousness aimed at creating a social order dominated by a black way of life and thought, permeating a certain cultural blackness in all customs, tastes, values, religious and political principles, and all social relationships in their intellectual and moral connotation 9 . The black consciousness movement also brought to light the writings of African leaders that had been so far neglected, some of which included the works of Cheikh Anta Diop, Leopold Senghor on Negritude, Kenneth Kaunda on African humanism, and most importantly, Julius Nyerere on self-reliance and ujamaa or African socialism.

The evolving nature of the Black Consciousness Movement gave the struggle against apartheid a very dynamic front – by providing a conciliatory or revolutionary, a peaceful or violent, a bourgeois or socialist dimension to the confrontation between blacks and whites. By eschewing violence and emphasizing black cultural and psychological emancipation from white domination, the Black Consciousness Movement was initially the vehicle of a black philosophy of pride and self-affirmation invigorated by an ethic of “Christian Liberation”.

As the movement gradually came to recognize that it can be truly effective only if it addresses the real issues of class struggle and the fundamental role that the individual has in abolishing oppressive social structures, the Movement started focusing on the problem of the superstructure. As the most radical impact the black consciousness movement had on the resistance to Apartheid, the movement underlined that the black revolution which was made ineffective by the material structure can be rejuvenated only by the transformation of the black intellect. Thus, the revolution would occur only if the black mind stripped itself from submission to white hegemony and erected on its own foundations the principles of the new moral order.

While the intellectual elite stuck to the subtle points of BC ideology the common masses embraced the movement’s rhetoric in its emotional form, as a form of angry self-assertion 10 . Although the ideology was interpreted by angry youngsters as Black Consciousness and did not exactly resemble the set of complex ideas that had been elaborated by the movement’s leaders, the leaders felt that the expression of anger among the youth was a testimony to their success in inspiring blacks to assert themselves more openly 11 .

However, this anger soon led to the uprising in 1976 at Soweto, in a way that despite being a direct outcome of the movement, it marked the beginning of a decline in its mass influence.

After the 1976 unrest, there was considerable debate as to the ideology of the Black Consciousness Movement and whether the white should be included in the struggle of the black population. Some Black Consciousness leaders continued to advocate excluding whites from the pre-liberation struggle, until 1977, when Biko himself advocated greater cooperation with supportive white organizations. He stated: “We don’t have sufficient groups who can form coalitions with blacks — that is groups of whites — at the present moment. The more such groups will come up, the better to minimize the conflict”. 12 With this statement, Biko moved towards the concept of closer cooperation between white and black groups, which would later be the foundation of the UDF.

• Biko, I Write What I Like, p. 49.
• Lindsay Michie Eades, The End of Apartheid in South Africa (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1999) p. 6.
• Lindsay Michie Eades, The End of Apartheid in South Africa (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1999) p. 8.
• Lindsay Michie Eades, The End of Apartheid in South Africa (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1999) p. 12.
• Biko, I Write What I Like, p. 88.
• Marx, Lessons of Struggle: South African Internal Opposition, 1960-1990. p. 52.
• Gerhart, Black Power in South Africa: The Evolution of an Ideology. p. 270.
• Fatton, Black Consciousness in South Africa: The Dialectics of Ideological Resistance to White Supremacy. p. 60.
• Marx, Lessons of Struggle: South African Internal Opposition, 1960-1990. p.65.
• Marx, Lessons of Struggle: South African Internal Opposition, 1960-1990. p. 65.
• Biko, I Write What I Like, p. 151.
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Steve Biko Calls for Black Consciousness

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Politically, the decade from 1960 to 1970 was a period of deafening silence among black South Africans. The freedom movements of the 1950s had been banned and their leaders imprisoned. In the late 1960s, new young leaders arose, bringing a fresh concept for organizing called “black consciousness.” Foremost among these activists was Steve Biko. As a university student, Biko had been involved with the National Union of South African Students (NUSAS), a multiracial civil rights organization. Later, Biko began to rethink the role that racial identity should play in anti-apartheid activism. In 1968, he co-founded the South African Students’ Organisation (SASO). This new student organization, unlike NUSAS, was open to the three groups identified as black—native Africans, “coloureds,” and Asians—but it was not open to whites. The philosophical core of SASO was black consciousness: an assertive affirmation of black identity. Sympathetic whites were encouraged to form their own organizations to fight apartheid, but Biko and other leaders believed that it was important for black South Africans to take control of their own destinies, rather than relying on white support to bring their freedom. A core idea within the Black Consciousness Movement was the need for blacks to change their mentality and free their minds from the ideas of inferiority that apartheid had long encouraged.

In the selection below, from a speech Biko gave in 1971 at a nationwide multiracial student conference, he articulates his understanding of the connection between white racism and black consciousness. He saw the power that could come from organizing as blacks. Black Consciousness spread widely among youth and was a major spark igniting the 1976 Soweto uprising and leading to a resurgence in the national freedom movement. On June 16, 1976, in the segregated township of Soweto, thousands of black students walked out of their schools and marched defiantly through the streets, demanding an end to their second-class status in education and beyond. Students in other cities responded with similar demonstrations. Across the country, the paramilitary police came out in force, killing hundreds of teenagers and imprisoning thousands. The following year, in 1977, Steve Biko was imprisoned, tortured, and left to die. Yet thousands of others continued this struggle.

White Racism and Black Consciousness We now come to the group that has longest enjoyed confidence from the black world—the [white] liberal establishment, including radical and leftist groups. The biggest mistake the black world ever made was to assume that whoever opposed apartheid was an ally. . . . How many white people fighting for their version of a change in South Africa are really motivated by genuine concern and not by guilt? . . . [A white person] possesses the natural passport to the exclusive pool of white privileges . . . . Yet at the back of his mind is a constant reminder that he is quite comfortable as things stand and therefore should not bother about change. . . . I am not sneering at the liberals and their involvement. Neither am I suggesting that they are the most to blame for the black man’s plight. Rather I am illustrating the fundamental fact that total identification [by white liberals] with an oppressed group [blacks] in a system that forces one group to enjoy privilege and to live on the sweat of another, is impossible. . . . The 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” [blacks] with whom they can hardly claim identification. . . . . . . [I]n South Africa political power has always rested with white society. Not only have the whites been guilty of being on the offensive but, by some skillful manoeuvres, they have managed to control the responses of the blacks to the provocation. Not only have they kicked the black but they have also told him how to react to the kick. . . . [H]e is now beginning to show signs that it is his right and duty to respond to the kick in the way he sees fit. . . . It may be said that, on the broader political front, blacks in South Africa have not shown any overt signs of new thinking since the banning of their political parties [in 1960] . . . The call for Black Consciousness is the most positive call to come from any group in the black world for a long time. It is more than just a reactionary rejection of whites by blacks. The quintessence of it is the realisation by the blacks that, in order to feature well in this game of power politics, they have to use the concept of group power and to build a strong foundation for this . . . The philosophy of Black Consciousness, therefore, expresses group pride and the determination by the blacks to rise and attain the envisaged self. At the heart of this kind of thinking is the realisation by the blacks that the most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed . . . Slowly, they have cast aside the “morality argument” which prevented them from going it alone and are now learning that a lot of good can be derived from specific exclusion of whites from black institutions . . . The growth of awareness among South African blacks has often been ascribed to influence from the American “Negro” movement. Yet it seems to me that this [awareness] is a sequel to the attainment of independence by so many African states within so short a time. . . . Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda’s . . . often quoted statement was, “[Malawi] is a black man’s country; any white man who does not like it must pack up and go.” . . . Through the work of missionaries and the style of education adopted, the blacks were made to feel that the white man was some kind of god whose word could not be doubted . . . 1 To add to the white-oriented education received, the whole history of the black people is presented as a long lamentation of repeated defeats. Strangely enough, everybody has come to accept that the history of South Africa starts in 1652 [when the first whites arrived]. . . . We must seek to restore to the black people a sense of the great stress we used to lay on the value of human relationships; to highlight the fact that in the pre-van Riebeeck days [before whites arrived] we had a high regard for people, their property and life in general; to reduce the hold of technology over man and to reduce the materialistic element that is slowly creeping into the African character. In this age and day, one cannot but welcome the evolution of a positive outlook in the black world. 2

Connection Questions

In the first two paragraphs of the essay, Biko talks about the chasm between whites and blacks in South Africa. In his view, “the interests of blacks and whites in this country have . . . become . . . mutually exclusive.” What does he mean? Do you agree? How might Nelson Mandela have responded to black consciousness?

• Among the criticisms Biko raises against white liberals is that they operate out of guilt and, consequently, their objection to apartheid is weak. Do you agree? Do you believe that guilt offers only a weak rationale for opposing apartheid? Biko urges whites to rethink who they are in South Africa and to realize that they too are oppressed and should act as a white group to bring freedom to their country. Do you believe white South Africans were oppressed by apartheid? If so, in what way(s)?
• To clarify his argument about the role of whites in Africa, Biko approvingly quotes the founding president of Malawi, Dr. Banda. What does Banda ask whites to do?
• 1 In his memoir, Nelson Mandela describes the moment in high school when the revered Xhosa poet warned the students that “‘For too long we have succumbed to the false gods of the white man. But we will emerge and cast off these foreign notions. . . . ’ I was galvanized.”
• 2 Steve Biko, “White Racism and Black Consciousness,” in I Write What I Like: Selected Writings , ed. Aelred Stubbs (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1978), 63–72.

How to Cite This Reading

Facing History & Ourselves, “ Steve Biko Calls for Black Consciousness ”, last updated July 31, 2018.

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