I Write What I Like

Apartheid was a system of racial segregation that existed in South Africa from 1948 until the early 1990s. Apartheid was an authoritarian system of governance developed and run by the country’s white minority. The system stratified citizens, placing white people at the top of the socioeconomic hierarchy and Black people on the bottom. The legacy of apartheid is evident in contemporary South African society, notably, in the economic disparities between Black and white people.

Azania is the name that Biko and other members of SASO wanted South Africa to adopt post-apartheid. Biko envisioned Azania as a non-racial, egalitarian society run by Black people, for Black people. Recognizing the importance of pluralism in South African society, however, Biko maintained that white people would be welcome in Azania, so long as they respected Black people and followed the terms laid out by the country’s Black leaders.

Bantustans were autonomous territories set aside for Black people by South Africa’s National Party as part of its policy of separate development. The term combines Bantu (“people” in some Bantu languages) and the suffix -stan (“land”). Biko opposed Bantustans on several grounds, arguing that Black people were the rightful owners of all the land, that the land designated for Bantustans was inferior, that Bantustans were underfunded, and that they encouraged the development of border industries that exploited Black labor. Biko’s main criticism of Bantustans, however, was the divisive impact they had on Black people. Instead of fighting oppression as a group, Bantustans divided Black leaders by separating them into eight groups, each fighting for gains for their own territory.

Black Consciousness was an antiapartheid movement that emerged in South Africa in the mid-1960s. Developed by Biko and other Black student leaders, Black Consciousness grew out of the political vacuum left by the government banning of two antiapartheid parties in 1960: the African National Congress and the Pan Africanist Congress. The main goal of the BCM was to empower Black people by fostering pride in Black history, culture, values, and accomplishments. Black Consciousness was SASO’s central tenet. Biko viewed the ideology as a prime tool for unifying Black people against white racism.

The BPC was the national body coordinating the BCM in South Africa. A broader counterpart to SASO, the BPC was active in resisting apartheid from its foundation in 1972 until 1977. Including Biko, nine BPC and SASO leaders were arrested and tried under the Terrorism Act in 1976. Both the BPC and SASO were banned in 1977 as part of the government response to the Soweto Uprising the previous year.

Liberal bilateralism holds that engaging Black and white people is the only way to end racial oppression. Biko is critical of racially integrated organizations, which he views as political responses, rather than true reflections of white people’s beliefs. The bilateral approach prioritizes white voices over Black ones, fools Black people into thinking change is happening, and eases white guilt, all the while maintaining the status quo.

NUSAS was an important organization in South Africa’s antiapartheid movement. Biko joined NUSAS when he started medical school in 1966. Two years later, he left the organization to form SASO. Biko broke away from NUSAS, a liberal, integrated organization, because it was dominated by white people, treated Black members unequally, and ignored the problems of Black people.

SASO was an all-Black antiapartheid student organization founded by Biko in the late 1960s. Dissatisfied with NUSAS, an integrated organization dominated by white students, Biko formed SASO to uplift and empower Black students and the Black community through Black Consciousness. Biko served as SASO’s first president in 1969. The following year, he became SASO’s Publicity Secretary. The South African government banned SASO in 1977 in response to the Soweto uprising.