By Toyin Falola
Across ages and time, concepts are defined based on the overall disposition of people toward the events around them or the values they uphold. In essence, concepts sometimes differ in meaning from time to time, people to people, and even from generation to generation. In other words, the same concept can hold different meanings for different people. For instance, a terrorist to one person might be a freedom fighter to another.
Nelson Mandela of South Africa was labeled a terrorist by the West until the fall of Apartheid. After his release from decades-long incarceration, Mandela was asked if he considered Pablo Escobar a terrorist, to which he responded that how a person is perceived is determined by the disposition of those making the judgment. He reckoned that as much as the West was insistent on making Africans criminalize Pablo Escobar, the man had never trounced any African moral principles and, therefore, was innocent in the eyes of Africa and its people. Of course, that response unsettled the Europeans, who often expect the whole world to see things through their lens.
The way heroes and heroines are defined often changes based on culture and time. In the past, individuals were defined by the masculine prowess they demonstrated when confronted with overwhelming problems. Men who could stand and chase predators away to enhance the safety of their people, withstand the brutal hands of inhospitable weather to provide for their families, or stand at war fronts to repel expansionists who wanted to appropriate their lands and legacy were once celebrated as heroes and heroines. However, this meaning is not all-encompassing.
Today, heroism is recognized through various activities and engagements linked to individuals and communities. People who have the resilience to resist making rash decisions and taking actions that could lead to confrontations and hostility, especially against the same individuals who have done so impulsively in the past, are regarded as heroes in any sense of the word. This is usually because, in the context of war, merciful people are considered weaklings, and their compassion can be exploited by ruthless opponents who would not hesitate before wreaking maximum havoc on them.
Conversely, people who refuse to be vengeful are considered heroes because underneath their desire to be liberal and accommodating lie conflicting thoughts that challenge their moral identity. Despite how their emotions want to get the best of them, they maintain an outward calm, driven by the need to protect the human family, regardless of race and cultural ideologies. As a result, they are quick to embrace dialogue, promote tolerance, and give peace a chance so that they can continue to enjoy peaceful coexistence with others and allow things to take their natural course. As Thabo Mbeki once remarked, Africans have produced such heroes in their distant history and their proximal past–people who gave humanity a chance.
Europeans undoubtedly harbored an expansionist agenda that they initially hid under the guise of exploring the world around them. In their narratives, they have continued to claim that they were captivated by the world’s vast geography and only wanted to explore the expanse of land of the living until their curiosity was satisfied. They stated that they simply wanted to know more about the environment in which they are circumscribed. While this is not impossible, it is also not mutually exclusive that they tried to take advantage of everything they encountered during their exploration.
The urge to explore is natural for humans and even animals, but what is not particularly natural is subjecting others to excruciating anomalies to satisfy one’s provincial dreams. As such, when European explorers arrived on African shores over 400 years ago, the instinctive response of Africans was to welcome them, not to feast on them, as some Western narratives implied. Such narratives include Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe, where, in his imagination, Africans were considered cannibals. This led to his description of Friday in the book as savagery and crude. However, the majority of Africans were not hostile to Europeans who came to their territory because they recognized that discrimination based on racial configuration was the crudest way to show one’s savagery inclinations.
According to Mbeki, the Africans of the period celebrated diversity, embraced multiculturalism, promoted inclusivity, and accommodated differences. This explains why they did not react with hostility toward European explorers who surfaced in their environment. Instead, they cared for shipwrecked sailors who had lost their way and gave them the necessary attention befitting of every individual. Through their actions, the Africans demonstrated that all humans, regardless of their racial origin and ethnic identity, should be given the opportunity to participate in society’s affairs.
For Africans, heroism was not just about the number of enemies one could kill in war but also about the ability to accommodate diverse voices and envision a shared future. Where necessary, the Africans acknowledged the limitations of their knowledge and allowed other viewpoints so that they could examine things together and come up with profound solutions. They welcomed the Europeans and did that with good intentions, never imagining that their openness to strangers could eventually lead to their subjugation and the potential collapse of their civilization.
Despite the consequences of opening their land to strangers, the Africans remained true to their philosophy, upholding their principles and ideological beliefs. Some assumed that their willingness to accommodate the Europeans was a sign of weakness, a perception that their guests exploited. This exploitation eventually fueled resentment, leading to the rise of apartheid and totalitarian regimes.
Thabo Mbeki recognizes Isithwalandwe Walter Sisulu for his embodiment of the Ubuntu philosophy, especially after the latter had experienced unimaginable challenges occasioned by the maltreatment of himself and his people. Mbeki unequivocally emphasizes that the principles adopted by precolonial South African society have had a tremendous impact on their collective identity. In the past, it was strange to an average African family that another family would go hungry because they did not have food resources. Rather than watch that happen, they would provide them with cattle for milking, ensuring that the other family could fend for themselves.
Such philosophy differs significantly from the Eurocentric understanding of socialism. While it reflects the ethos of socialism, it does not encourage laziness, as it pushes the beneficiaries to work and earn their living while extending a hand of friendship. This is what defines the South African people, much like other Africans, and is shown in their active participation in their neighbor’s wellbeing. Thus, the Europeans found it surprising that Africans did not show any signs of the devaluation of human integrity before their ascension. Africans did not beg for food, nor did they trade their good names in exchange for what to eat.
Mbeki reckons that this ethos has become entrenched in their collective identity, which explains why they are not destructive even in victory. They have accepted the reality that controversy is inevitable among the human family, and, as a superior animal, they understand the importance of coming to the table to negotiate. They believe that dialogue is always an effective tool for renegotiation and a means to prevent the shedding of innocent blood. Undeniably, this philosophy has played a crucial role in preserving South Africa’s good history in recent times.
Despite the ceaseless hassles faced in the past, Africans are driven by a commitment to embrace peace and stability. Even after enduring centuries of exploitation and predatory actions from the colonizers, they remained calm and collected, even in the face of provocative contempt. They have been able to attain such heights because their heroes and heroines have realized that hostility does not yield long-term benefits or bring about lasting serenity.
PS: This is a 12-part series based on the collections edited by Sifiso Mxolisi Ndlovu, titled ANC Today Letters: The Ideas and Thoughts of President Thabo Mbeki, Volume 1, 2001-2004, supplemented by materials in the Thabo Mbeki Museum, UNISA, Pretoria. The series is composed over five weeks in three different countries. The museum’s resources, digitized under 27 categories, can generate over 200 books.