By Mandisi Majavu
(Contribution to the Reimagining Society Project hosted by ZCommunications…)
Malcolm X (1968) once argued that white activists who join black movements which fight against the oppression and dehumanisation of blacks are taking an escapist route to salve their guilty consciences. He opined that white activists would be more useful, and their involvement in the struggle for change most effective, if it began within their communities, instead of them ‘hovering’ near black movements. Some people might dismiss Malcolm X’s argument as nothing more than a nationalistic rant; however, I think Malcolm X was raising deeply insightful questions around solidarity and diversity within movements.
Most people of colour on the left have had to grapple with these kinds of questions at some point in their lives. Referring to South Africa’s anti-apartheid political organisations, Biko (2004) observed that, ideologically speaking, most black organisations were under white direction because white liberals always knew what was good for blacks and told them so. Talking about feminist movements in the U.S., bell hooks (2000) argues that racist socialisation teaches middle class white feminists to believe that they are most capable of leading feminists movements. And, it is due to institutionalised racism that white feminists have access to mainstream institutions such as universities, publishing houses and mass media, which reinforce the racist notion that only white feminists are capable of writing, researching and theorising women’s movements.
Educated black women who dare to point this out are normally marginalised, silenced and ostracised, argues hooks. This becomes an easy project to carry out in a racist society that constructs real blackness to mean ‘speaking the patois of poor black people, being uneducated, streetwise and a variety of other stereotypes’. Educated blacks who are given visibility and who are taken seriously within movements are blacks who echo the sentiments of the dominant discourse, writes hooks.
This essay argues that to build strong movements that are not prone to fracture, that embrace diversity, that really threaten the establishment, firstly, our movements have to be built on the logic of anti-racism. Secondly, organisational structures of movements ought to be designed in a manner that does not fast-track into leadership roles activists who have class privilege and other social privileges on their side. Movements ought to be the reflection of the social change we want. We certainly do not want dogmatic or parochial movements. As has been observed by Alinsky (1969), ‘movements founded on a limited programme covering a limited community will live a limited life’. What we want more than anything else is a constantly growing movement; a movement with an international outlook, yet based on the people’s experiences and aspirations. Anything other than this is ‘self-defeating, frustrating and hopeless’.
Movements can only be the reflection of the social change we want when they are based on the values that are consistent with our goals. The ultimate goal is to attain a classless society; an egalitarian society based on solidarity, diversity, and self management. What we want is a non-hierarchical society in which members can freely participate in decision-making that directly affects their lives. Furthermore, we want a society that encourages dissent, a society that fosters a healthy attitude towards questioning authority.
The section that follows explores each of these values indepth and, moreover, shows how these values can help movements grow in numbers and political strength.
Anti-racist logic and Diversity
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