The lies of Verwoerd in black and white

It is the destiny of simple ordinary folks to be fooled.

If a political leader or party cannot fool the masses, it is most unlikely to garner popular support. If the common masses cannot understand that the political leader or party is promising them a pie in the sky, they are most likely to give that leader or party support.

I am neither talking about Nelson Mandela nor his African National Congress party, here. Instead, I am thinking of Hendrik Verwoerd, the greatest philosopher, political strategist and social engineer South Africa has known. He is so great even in death that Mandela’s successors continue to blame his legacy for the problems they confront.

His philosophy was not just about separate development or apartheid but false white superiority. It is a philosophy that is rooted deep in the heart and soul of many incorrigible whites. The only thing unfortunate about these simple ordinary white folks is that they do not see that they have been lied to. There is no such thing as white superiority.

But Verwoerd was so effective and successful in peddling the drugs of apartheid and false white superiority that we are still reeling from the tremendous disaster he unleashed. For anyone to have been deceived by a man like Verwoerd, you have to be suffering from deep seated inferiority complex produced by ancestors who were the ‘dregs of white civilisation.’

You see, you have to have been retarded to think that any human being is greater or better than another simply because of skin colour. All men and women are equal, after all. Also, it was impossible for separate development to succeed. Apartheid was destined to die a natural death. But many white people believed that it would prevail until “Jesus came back.”

Unfortunately, there are still many white people who – in their retarded minds – think that they are God’s chosen people to rule over black people. They believe that they are superior. And this attitude and false belief has made it very difficult for them to integrate into the new society.

When Verwoerd was talking about white superiority, he based that on nothing else but skin colour. It had nothing to do with scientific knowledge or natural intelligence. But to many whites and blacks, whiteness, whatever that is, equalled intelligence. This is the meaning that has been given to it. This is what makes it difficult for blacks and whites to work together to create a better society based on economic justice and social equality. They believe in white superiority.

The notion of white superiority is diametrically opposite to acknowledgement and recognition of black intelligence, skill and ability. As far as Verwoerd’s supremacist racism is concerned, black people are useless, primitive, lazy, barbaric and backward and were destined to be ruled over by the white race. And they continue to be. He had no conception of justice and equality.

But what we need to acknowledge is that the will to dominate or feel superior (to somebody else) comes from a deep seated inferiority complex. One only wants to feel superior or more important just to prove that they are not inferior. Your white superiority is proved by black inferiority. It is for this reason that some whites have this intuitive need to be treated differently, in a superior fashion if you will, because this makes them feel more equal than black people. If there is not anything that makes them feel superior, they feel lost.

But to be really superior, you don’t need proof or to be treated like you are super-special. If you are superior, you are superior. Superior people can be found among all races, too. They are not confined to a particular group.

Why would a Steve Biko, for instance, argue about his superiority? He was killed by Verwoerd’s descendants simply because he exposed the lie of white superiority and espoused the philosophy of Black is Beautiful, Black is Good. This equalled blackness to whiteness.

White people who are superior simply know it and conduct themselves as such. They do not base their superiority on skin or eye colour. And they do not need to prove their superiority by putting up discriminatory rules or excluding others.

In fact, if you are a superior being, that has absolutely nothing to do with anyone else. It is your individual concern or business that you think you are superior. And if you truly are, you will blossom and people will see the results of your superiority.

But we live in a new society now. Its constitution emphasised human dignity and equality. There are no superior beings, here. There are no animals that are more equal than others, now. This society can only come into being when blacks and whites get rid of the notion of white superiority.

Verwoerd and his followers – the white supremacist patriarchal capitalists – have done much harm to our society because they have made it difficult for most people to understand and appreciate human equality. And it is only one thing that they have done to mess up the world: believe that some people are superior simply because of their skin colour. There is no such.

White superiority is such a sad legacy, one which continues to poison our present and future. There is neither white superiority nor black inferiority. We are all equal. It will take time for us live up to the ideal, principles and values of the Constitution but it will happen.

We have to unlearn what Verwoerd has done and learn the new gospel of human equality and strive for economic justice. It is nonsense to believe that any human being is greater than fellow beings.

Even a Hendrik Verwoerd himself was just an ordinary but mad man.