When history takes stock of each of our individual contributions to society and the progress of mankind, particularly the prosperity of black people, house niggers like Mmusi Maimane and groups of self-loathing black folk will find themselves on the wrong side of that history. I refer to these sorry souls as house niggers because as Africans are meted abuse on a daily basis, these individuals have imposed themselves as bodyguards of white privilege, defending their masters at every opportunity whenever freedom loving and equality yearning natives speak out against racism. Theirs is to pacify black anger and portray black pain as an exaggeration, an attention seeking stunt by a people who are supposedly lazy by nature. These are lessons they have absorbed directly from the master hence their religious stance; that their race, a black race, is inherently dumb and they, by their proximity to the white man are special. ‘You are not like the others’, I imagine the master would assure them.
But it can longer be that house niggers continue to hinder the black progress. We can no longer allow that some spineless Uncle Toms tell us that we are imagining racism, that not all whites are racists. This message applies to the same whites who are always undermining our intelligence by saying we are always racialising everything, seeking to deter our focus from real issues. That stops now.
For every word uttered, every sentence written, there is always a point of origin. This piece is no different. It owes its origin from the recent reminder that whites are still in charge of South Africa and are in control of all the levers of power. Just a few weeks ago a group of young black girls at Pretoria Girls High School protested against an absurd and racist policy that discouraged them from growing their natural hair and wearing it as they please, in this case in beautiful, blown out Afros. Now this right here boys and girls, ladies and gentlemen, is absolutely ridiculous. I am reminded of the words of one of Africa’s fine and foremost writers, a man whose intelligence cannot be doubted, Professor Ngugi wa Thiong’o. In an article published in Sunday Independence on 27 May 2012, wa Thiong’o urged Africans thus: ‘Africa has to reclaim the black body with all its blackness as the starting point in our plunge into and negotiations with the world. We have to rediscover and reclaim the sense of the sacred in the black body.’
The late Reverend Malcolm X, another stirring talent that tragically left us too early, had observed that the most oppressed, violated and disrespected person in the world is a black woman, and if I may add, as black men we are not helping. If you don’t believe me look at how the media, which is mostly white owned and therefore dominated by racist European attitude, has and continues to treat tennis sensation Serena Williams over the course of her career. Had she been white, men would be falling at her feet so that she does not touch the ground that is treaded by ordinary beings like you and I; but because she is black with all the features of an African woman that is not the case.
Williams, who is not only the current best female tennis player, perhaps the best tennis player of our time, she is arguably amongst the best athletes to ever grace this earth, and we should be grateful that we are allowed to breathe the same air she does. Serena Williams is the Michael Jordan of tennis, a statement that might cause a raucous in some circles, further emphasising my point. Thus as black men we should be prepared to sacrifice ourselves at the altar of shame, for we have not only allowed but equally participated in the humiliation of black women. So when a great like Ngugi wa Thiong’o implores us to ‘reclaim the black body with all its blackness’, it should be that of the black woman that we start with.
It is further shameful that the African is disrespected and humiliated in Africa, her homeland. Perhaps it is time to recall that old mantra of black pride: Africa for Africans. Whites have always been quick to label natives who proudly invoke this slogan ‘divisive and racist’, because their aim is to distract us from what matters. I reason that had Africans in South Africa agreed amongst themselves, instead of taking instructions from Britain, that for the dignity of blacks to be restored it was of utmost importance that land was returned to its rightful owners. We would not find ourselves in an awkward situation in which little girls have to fight to grow their natural hair. It is quite embarrassing that at age 13-16, forty years after the Soweto Massacre, kids have to raise their little fists as a sign of demonstration against a group of aggressive, white security guards armed with guns and pepper spray. In Tata’s green earth what the hell are armed security guards doing threatening little girls?
Land is dignity. Africans – and I expect no confusion as to who Africans are, as such a confusion did not exist a mere thirty-years ago – should take back their land and we shall engage in discussions afterwards. Take back the land and watch as African dignity is immediately restored. To accentuate my simple yet effective point take the words of another African scholar Chigozie Obioma writing recently for Foreign Policy about the age-old problem of black exploitation and humiliation. He observed thus: ‘There is no non-black nation, even among the most liberal ones, where the black man is dignified. History dealt us an unforgiving blow in the incursion of foreigners into black lands. The Arabs enslaved tribes and nations and then colonized and evangelized them. Then came the Europeans, who, persuaded the Africans were of an inferior race, divided up the continent over lunch in Berlin in 1884. They carted off a large population of its people – sometimes leaving entire villages almost empty – and brought those who remained on the continent under their rule. So complete was the transformation that no black nation retained its ancestral nationhood, national language, or national identity.’
He further notes that ‘…today we often hear of how China or India or some other nation is “taking over” Africa economically.’ This piece stirred all sorts of emotions within my soul, but it is this following line, in which Obioma brilliantly summarises black humiliation in one sentence, stating that: ‘There is almost no nation whose majority is of a different race that has not spat on the face of the black person, at one time or the other.’
In South Africa it is about time that Africans took back their land. For centuries Africans have been begging and pleading for their land; for years we have even offered our faces to be spat on to please the master. That stops now. So called ‘middle-class’ blacks on Facebook and Twitter should for once put down their smartphones, join the ‘great masses of our people’ on the streets and go and get their land. Black men, and this includes me as well, should stop by the river of purity, wash and repent for their sins committed against black women. We are the reason that black women are disrespected the world over, further allowing the black race to be undermined. Until the land is restored to its rightful owners, until black women are shown respect, little black girls will continue to have to fend for themselves against racist pricks. In the fine words born from what can only be described as true love of this continent, allow me to summon the spirits of those who are no longer with us: ‘Mayibuye! iAfrika!’ Kgotsong!
Article By Seitiso Ntlothebe
