In his speech in Los Angeles in May 1962, Malcolm X asked his audience: “Who taught you to hate yourself, from the top of your head to the soles of your feet? Who taught you to hate your own kind? Who taught you to hate the race that you belong to – so much so that you don’t want to be around each other?”
I was reminded of this in the aftermath of former EFF deputy president Nyiko Shivambu being announced as MKP national organiser.
Immediately, social media was awash with commentary filled with black self-loathing that I was reminded of this revolutionary African-American leader.
What I found profound about some of the self-hate was its obvious answer to Malcolm’s who question.
Who taught you to hate yourself…?
Malcolm doesn’t answer his question but all know whence this comes.
As I listened to several black African political commentators, I was taken by some of their adjectival descriptors for Julius Malema, Shivambu or Jacob Zuma.
Though nobody called Shivambu an imbecile for leaving EFF for MKP, that is what was being described. For Zuma and Malema, the adjectives were not left to interpretation – they were straight out called dictators. For 10 days I waited for some black African who knows them to defend them to no avail.
Prior to Zuma taking a 14% share of the vote, I had never heard anyone call him a dictator. In fact, for all his flaws, over and over, Zuma was described as warm, approachable, respectful, loving, even kind – I have also heard charming.
I don’t know any of these men so they could very well be all those things.
From afar, Malema is a president Thabo Mbeki clone – self-important, arrogant, forceful and intimidating.
At its loosest, dictator fits all three – Zuma has exercised absolute authority in MKP, while Mbeki and Malema have always been the power.
Nobody would put their name up for public office unless they had some characteristics of narcissism such as self-centred, arrogant and craving admiration.
So, if Helen Zille and Malema have shown all the characteristics of narcissism mentioned above and more, why do commentators reserve dictator for only Zuma and Malema then? Self-loathing.
Black Africans have a unique capacity to affirm a racial insult against themselves. When you assume I am corrupt because I am black, you affirm the racists who call you corrupt for the same reason.
Zuma has been painted black, and he is but not a single black African commentator would dare also say “he’s a loving husband and father too” because to be accepted as a better black, you must denounce blackness.
Yet, defending colonialism (and apartheid) as not all bad will elevate you to a party leadership position and earn you a right to brag “more blacks voted for DA under my leadership”.
MKP secretary Sifiso Maseko is a medical doctor yet this distinguished achievement has not spared him the ridicule of black Africans for repeatedly using the phrase “in terms of” during the unveiling of Shivambu as a new member, questioning his education.
How can you tell that you have self-loathingmilitis?
The same behaviour is worse when it’s by your kind or you think yourself superior to your kind based on race.
What is most tragic about black Africans who think their kind who speaks poor English is uneducated and stupid is that this is exactly what racists think. In fact, the qualified franchise was predicated on that an uneducated African is unfit to vote at a time an uneducated Caucasian was superior to an educated African.
Today, black Africans will readily accept that a black African who cannot speak English without difficulty or cannot pronounce conscientiously is uneducated but don’t extend the same courtesy to a Caucasian in a similar predicament.
According to this self-hating African, Zuma should not lead because he’s uneducated but John Steenhuisen can.
A mind institutionalised by colonialism and apartheid will call an African immigrant by a derogatory term and any other by their nationality e.g. Pakistani.
Recently someone I trusted made a joke about MKP “bringing us state capture” if it ever ascended to political power. This is not an unfair take but what is galling is that something similar for the DA, for instance is not spoken of in the same way. If the DA became a government it would scrap affirmative action and support the slaughter of Palestinian children yet there is a type of black African that doesn’t see both are equally horrible for them because they have been taught to hate themselves.
- Bizokwakhe is a columnist at large with -obviously too much time on his hands to think silly things.
