Education emancipates ‘mind of the oppressed’

AN honorary doctorate in education was posthumously conferred on Steve Biko by the then UPE (now NMMU) in 2002, with the following being part of the citation:

BIKO’S mission was to serve as a liberator from repression. He founded the Black Consciousness Movement on the idea that domination operates through belief.

In 1971, he wrote: “Black consciousness is . . . to make us look at ourselves and see ourselves, not in terms of what we have been taught through the absolute values of white society, but with new eyes. It is a call . . . to see the innate value in us, in our institutions, in our traditional outlook on life and in our own worth as people. The logic behind it is that if you see yourself as a person in your own right, there are certain basic questions that you must ask about the conditions under which you live.”

For Biko, education and emancipation were inextricably linked, and the central aim of education is to cultivate humanity and empower people to take their destiny into their own hands. Central to his vision was the idea of cultural evolution and a dynamic casting-off of the “mind-forged manacles”.

“The most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed.”

Biko’s focus on psychological liberation profoundly changed the whole mood and style of the liberation struggle. His vision fostered a bold determination to fight apartheid, especially among generations of young students. It provided the inspiration for the events of the 1980s which made it increasingly impossible for apartheid to survive.

He gave his life to the struggle for liberation from oppression. He was the chief architect of the movement that restored dignity and pride to those whose identity had been shattered by colonialism and apartheid. We honour him especially for his vision of how education can, and should, contribute to the development of a non-racial, just and egalitarian society by emancipating the mind and building a sense of self-worth and humanity.

Even today, we are still accused of racism. This is a mistake. We know that all inter-racial groups in South Africa are relationships in which whites are superior, blacks inferior. So, as a prelude, whites must be made to realise that they are only human, not superior. Same with blacks. They must be made to realise that they are also human, not inferior.