Breaking Chains Of Psychological Slavery

POST-APARTHEID southern Africa must constantly battle the political demons of psychological slavery that resulted directly from the religious, ideological and highly racialised social history, particularly in South Africa and Namibia, where black or African people were collectively labelled as ‘kafirs’ by the various professed Christian apartheid regimes.

In the historical context of southern African political discourse, the now offensive and derogatory term ‘kafir’, was used as a political and psychological tool of total de-humanisation of the African people.

The term has various forms, such as cafar, caffer, caf(f)ir, caffre(e), cafre, kaffer, kaffre. As a dehumanising label, it was psycho-politically and principally used by the ruling Afrikaners of Dutch origin against all the natives of southern Africa.

Yet, very few people know that the word ‘kafir’ is not of Dutch or Afrikaans, but of Arabic and Islamic origin. In Arabic and Islamic terminology, the word ‘kafir’ is generally used to refer to a person who does not believe in God or one who covers up the truth of the belief in the one true God (Allah). The English equivalents of the word ‘kafir’ could most probably be ‘a pagan or an infidel’ (The Dictionary of South African English on Historical Principles, 1996).

According to Wikipedia (2017), etymologically, the word ka¯fir is an active participle of the Semitic/Arabic root word: K-F-R ‘to cover’. In pre-Islamic era, the term was used to describe farmers burying seeds in the ground, covering them with soil while planting seeds. Thus, the word ka¯fir implies the meaning of ‘a person who hides or covers up’ something, in that case, seeds.

Yet, truth like seeds, always comes out – eventually.

Kafir is, thus, originally derived from the Arabic word (ka¯fir) that is usually translated into English as a ‘non-believer’, or even simply as a ‘non-Muslim’. What is, historically, confusing and very strange is that in southern Africa, the terminology was generally used by Caucasian Christians to label all African people as “kafirs” regardless of their religious or non-religious status, thus, misusing the term as a racial slur, as part of the politically degrading discourse, deliberately meant to demonstrate white Christian and racial superiority.

As such, as Africans in southern Africa, black people have collectively been referred to as ‘kafirs’, even when they were supposed to belong to the same religion with their fellow white European Christians!

Wikipedia further elaborates that “the word as derived from the Arabic language, a kafir (meaning a ‘disbeliever’), can also be neutrally used to mean ‘one without religion’.

Arab speaking people, would, thus, denotatively and connotatively use the word, not as a racial term, but as a religious status, referring to disbelieving or atheist, even when such a person is white, pink, black, brown, yellow or of any skin colour, including a non-believing Arab.

One can, thus, see that the use or abuse of the word ‘kafir’ resulted in a massive psychological state of inferiority complex that many Africans are still suffering today, as a result of the twisted religious politics, fake theology and manipulated linguistics.

Interestingly, variations of the word were used in English, Dutch, and, later, in Afrikaans, from the 17th century to the early 20th century as a general term for several different people of Southern Africa non-whites, but specifically and officially, all black skinned African people.

The term, thus, came to acquire a distinctly derogatory meaning in the context of South African political history, especially during the apartheid era, roughly from 1948-1994. It was a totally racialised and politicised terminology. In Portuguese, French and in Spanish, the equivalent cafre was used.

In Jewish terminology, the word ‘kafir’ would most probably be similar to the word ‘goyim’ or its English equivalent, ‘gentile’, someone who does not believe in Judaism or simply a non-Jew, but more broadly not from the 12 Tribes of Jacob (Israel).

Hence, post-apartheid southern Africa today, the term ‘kafir’ is regarded as highly racially offensive, in the same way as nigger in the United States and other English-speaking countries.

However, legally, the challenge to abuse of the word has been actionable in South African courts since at least 1976 under the offence of crimen injuria: “the unlawful, intentional and serious violation of the dignity of another” (Wikipedia).

Historically, the word was imported to South West Africa during the apartheid and South African colonial period. However, with political independence, it was legally outlawed as from 21 March 1990, Namibia having obtained its ‘independence’ from the white Christian minority apartheid regime of South Africa.

Against that background, it is thus absurd that despite the fact that many Africans both in South Africa and Namibia were converted to Christianity, apartheid South Africa still considered them as non-believers or infidels, that is, if the correct and accurate use of the original and racially neutral meaning of the Arabic word is understood.

Naturally, when Afrikaners used it against black people, the racial connotations were meant to label black people as racially inferior, pagan, heathen, uncivilised, and thus worthy to be Christianised and colonised – in the name of a white Jesus Christ, a subliminal visual sign of racial superiority, hence the ideology of white European supremacy.

The Caucasian and European images of a white European Jesus are still around, wreaking havoc by presenting Jesus as a ‘white God’.

This image of a white Jesus (who many Christians regard as a God), coupled with the religious symbolism of paganism and savage Africans has been so thoroughly ingrained in our African psychology and ignorant theology to a point where to imagine a non-racial God, especially in Christian dominated society has become impossible, since the images and pictures of a white God (Jesus) are visually pervasive.

Such chains of psychological and spiritual slavery need to be broken once and for all, hence the need to critically unpack and elucidate the term ‘kafir’, thus helping to reject the fake images of Jesus and God Almighty. This is particularly relevant in a post-apartheid and Christian majority society such as Namibia, a society that has not yet fully started to decolonise, de-kafirinate and thus break the chains of psychological slavery.

Linguistic awareness and terminological insight should start the process towards proper self-knowledge, psycho-spiritual liberation, self-worth and genuine political empowerment.

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