Biko and the Problematic of Presence - Essay Example

Biko and the Problematic of Presence portrays a firsthand account of the apartheid regime in South Africa which takes into account the uprising of the blacks delegating to take to the streets in response to the oppressions by the whites’ presence in South Africa. The account of the events does not indicate anything more than an outright show of fed up individuals who chose to rise in response to the issues the foreign government had imposed on them. However, as normally expected, the uprising against the colonial rule did not mean anything more than an impending danger or war – a one-way war since the perceived owners of the land, blacks, did not have as much ammunition or coordination as the whites did and through this imbalance, there was literally no point of going forward. Nonetheless, ignoring the fact that an uprising looking forward to confronting the foreigners was not seen to bear any fruits if the same determination would be applied from the Whites' side. However, following events such as the Biopatong Massacre, the blacks, who had no identity nor a voice to stand for themselves felt their absence. The absence of the blacks does not mean that there were no Africans in South Africa, but their presence was nearly or mostly unrecognized.

The NO status indicates that, although the bodies were intact, the social representation of the black man had been reduced to the unimportant use as laborers only perceived as beasts of labor. However, the NO status and the lack of presence in the eyes of the apartheid regime had not respect for human life which also served as a motivation to derive a presence from the absence. As long as one was African or for that matter, associated with the black race, the apartheid regime only recognized the needs of the higher class which comprised of whites. Therefore, those without class did not exist as citizens nor any social entities that the whites would interact with. For these reasons, since the physical presence translated to social absence, the Tripartite Alliance Rolling Mass Action was an organized civil action aimed at paralyzing economic operations within the urban centers of the nation. Since they did not exist although they were alive, the blacks saw the oppressors as individuals that had lost respect for human life. As a result, even if one were shot dead in the efforts to rising to the need at hand, the loss would not be counted as absence since the NO status already confirmed that is notion. Therefore, as the uprising of the Tripartite Alliance Rolling Mass Action was forming, the 100 delegates who took part in the demonstrations indicates that the No status would rather be confirmed by the counteraction of the non-blacks who were the targets of the mass movement.

However, two questions linger to justify the actions of a weaker side, the blacks, against the stronger and armed side, the non-whites. These questions include the whether the blacks understood what it was like to suffer and whether the blacks understood their position as compared to the non-blacks. Since the initial reaction to the issue of having no actual position in the running of an economy, the blacks thought they could reclaim their homeland which had been taken over by non-blacks at the cost of the blacks' labor. The motivational factor in this take on things shows that the blacks already had accepted that they had lost their land and their pride as well. Thus, with nowhere to call home or homeland, it would not be a bad idea to accept that all was lost and the efforts to push back, no matter how little they would turn out to be, would in one way or another at least confirm to the non-whites that blacks were present. In response to the mass actions, a ruthless general, General Joshua Oupa Gqozo had been authorized to take the counteraction of shooting with live bullets all those from the demonstrating side who would cross the Ciskei border. To the demonstrators, this notification that they would be pushed back with live ammunition was terrifying enough but a weaker demotivation since what could be lost had already been lost. In the other hand, while there existed the foreseen horror of bloodbath the moment the Ciskei border was crossed, the economic exploitation caused upon the blacks had taken everything including their livelihoods. Hence, dying in the battle to have their voices had through the risky move, would grand them some presence.

Having been promised to be met with lethal force if by any chance the blacks threatened to disrupt peace on the other side of the Ciskei border, there was no letting go of the once in a lifetime opportunity to carry out a mass action, which by its very nature and the threat at hand, did not have so many prospects of winning the battle, hoped that by some chance, the message would be communicated that the blacks as well as the oppressed had reached their tipping point (they could not stand the colonial rule anymore and the economic exploitation had taken everything from them). If the civil action would not pay off, then trying and dying in the process would be equally important. This approach to the economic motivators would be seen as stupid and extremely risky, but the fatalities were already anticipated to ensure that every oppressed individual had his/her say, even if it came with the loss of life.

On the other hand, the analysis of the Biko and the Problematic of Presence resembles a close connection with the People of Color Blindness. People-of-color-blindness takes into account what the black race knows and what it assumes to know. The article points out that the political environment which grants the White race an upper hand over the blacks is made of political jurisdictions that offer a through pass for the whites while at the same time giving the blacks the right to have no rights. On slavery, the article articulates that the Blacks are by nature required to be slaves while at the same time, the Whites are prevented from being slaves. Hence, the question regarding the qualifications of a slave has a very narrow and specific solution. The answer to the question is, regardless of the fact that the Whites, as well as every other race having differing levels of power, being black granted one the birthright to be a slave while on the other hand, the differing levels of power, prevented the Whites from being slaves. In a case presented within the article, a slave owner, a White, is allowed to act in the absence of the law in a manner that mistreats the slave, a black individual.

On the other hand, being a black slave the oppressive nature of the real status, allows the black to act normal and accept his/her slave status by chanting to songs through dance and other performances. Hence, the use of the slave is single sided since it is only in the provision of economic labor. This indicates that Donald Lowe’s statement that the ghetto is the center of late capital is not only the current place where the blacks belong, but where they will remain even if the White supremacy was reduced to equality for every race. Taking into account an economy that thrives through the establishment as well as recognition of multiracialism, colorblindness is associated with the stripping of dominate races of their sovereignty to grand black race a place in modern economies. However, the article pushes the idea that blacks do not want to be included in the multiracialism and require to be singled out as an independent social entity with a particular identity.

Pointing fingers to the position of the blacks and slavery, Agamben considers the refugee camp as the first instance of experimenting with biopolitics. However, Sexton argues that racial slavery is the starting point of biopolitical experimentation. Other aspects in the article reinstating the position of the blacks include desexualization and denationalization. Irrespective of whether or not one is a native, nativity and the color of the individual did not matter. However, nativity is considered a state of existence on the land while denationalization is the indication that regardless of being in the native land, the black do not belong to the nation and should be enslaved. A necessary condition for enslavement is the blackness of the individual in question which is the fundamental aspect associated with racialization. Thus, the blackness matters in racialization as it exerts the significant qualification for enslavement while whiteness embodies the requirement of freedom.

The imperceptibility and native population illegibility for the black population are considered as Necropolitics. This indicates that there is a very thin line, almost non-existent when considering slavery and counteractions which all are deemed as suicide. Martyrdom and freedom are also considered to mean the same thing since the resistance to slavery for blacks is equally regarded as one's death. The genealogy of slave descendants is rooted in the loss of rights in the racialization of sex where forced reproduction gives rise to biological impurity resulting from denied kinships as dictated by the law. Therefore, the argument of nativity is rooted on those born within the foreign land but reproduced by the slaves bred by the foreigners. These descendants suffer the loss of identity since they are neither natives, the foreigners, nor the authoritative colonizers. The idea of multiculturalism within the modern facets of political and economic boundaries aims at negating the racial differences between blacks and non-blacks. However, the same notion is applied to suggest that nonblack grievances are valid since they initiate the sense that blacks should not play the race card and should not complain of their historical past.

Multiculturalism is taken as acceptance that nativity or the foreign status of oppressors has been diluted over time such that slavery and other oppressive encounters of black race should be ignored or better off brushed off. After the civil war, the racial boundaries as seen to shrink but at the same time giving the non-blacks a voice to raise their concerns over the elevated position of the blacks. As indicated in the Biko and the Problematic of Presence, the economic exploitation of blacks is seen as the problem causing civil action. However, in People-of-color-blindness, offsetting the racial divide among blacks and non-blacks sends the non-blacks to complaining that it is time, post-civil war period, for the blacks to embrace multiculturism which should serve the blacks as a silencing tool to ignore or to not voice their past experiences in slavery, isolation, torture, and other aspects such as denied kinship and forced reproduction.

Fred Moten in his account on Music Against the Law of Reading the Future and Rodney King, states the differences between singing and reading. The article, very much, denies that theoretical representation of text in reading is educative in any way. Also, the article articulates that the deductive nature of reading sends the community in a frenzy of misconception of what is right and not. In this case, relating to the case of blacks in the hands or under the authoritative rule of whites lack momentum to propagate their racial development. Hence, since the blacks have been reduced to consumers of literature and readings, it is in their nature to embrace the already functional systems put in place by the law.

The law which can deindustrialize and reindustrialize the economy as it is deemed right. However, given events that occur without the eye-witness account and then broadcasted to the masses show case the difference between reading and reacting to televised events. Among these events is the Rodney King Beating, which propagated nationwide uprising against the rule of the law as well as its mandated function within the social aspects. With the cry for inclusion, such events trigger counteractions which in their very nature do not take reading into account in influencing racial tensions as well as oppressive nature of the white-black interaction. As a result, the article states that the role of feminism writers is merely a drop in the ocean which communicates very little as visual arts such as televised events.

Therefore, since events in real life may trigger a reaction or a series of reactions, the form they are presented in may delay the actions or trigger an immediate reaction. Through reading, the number of the audience reached is minimal and the reaction is delayed. However, through the representation of political and authoritative oppression through television triggers, a reaction which takes advantage of the space opened at the very moment. As a result, as the law could influence industrialization and deindustrialization, the very channel and means of communication differ in effect as it is the case with black oppression and white’s supremacy as shown in both Biko and the Problematic of Presence and People-of-color-blindness.