‘Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is
that we are powerful beyond measure.’ – Nelson Mandela.
There is a security in
slavery, mental or physical, that is difficult to get free from. Yet slaves are
supposed to be voiceless. If they
hold any opinion at all, slaves are meant to keep it to themselves. Their
opinions provoke contempt or icy silence from their masters. So they have
learned from bitter experience not to share their opinions with their so-called
superiors.
The value of slaves
lies mainly in their brute physical strength. Their exercise of intellectual
alertness is perceived as a subversive threat that should be repressed without
hesitation. They are not encouraged to develop initiative. They are not trained
to think for themselves. Their thought
contribution is considered a waste. This principle works both ways: Subdue the thoughts of a man, you neutralize the man. Slave-owners are
adept at enforcing it. Though slaves might be hated and despised, their masters
are terrified at the prospect of losing them. Pharaoh certainly didn’t relish
the idea of being without his slaves when he was confronted by Moses. He
mounted a ferocious campaign of attacking the validity of Moses’ message. The
king said the slaves were lazy and idle: ‘And let them not regard vain words.’
The gambit was: if the official policy said the message of Moses was worthless,
then who would dare to argue and contradict Pharaoh’s wisdom?
A wise man said: ‘Ignorance is the incubator of slavery.’
Keep the people ignorant and mindless, mantra of evil rulers. A slave is trained to
always accept his ‘place’ and never hope to cross his invisible boundaries,
marked with terror, shame, tension and anxiety. And a slave who attempts to
kick in rebellion and mindless aggression is punished with brutal cruelty to
keep the rest in line. The slave is wanted for one thing, and one thing only:
his body, his muscles; his heart and mind don’t count!
In his book, Black Boy, Richard Wright wrote: ‘
Never being fully able to be myself, I had slowly learned that the South could
recognize but a part of a man, could accept but a fragment of his personality,
and all the rest – the best and deepest things of heart and mind – were tossed
away in blind ignorance and hate.’ The terrifying part of the slave condition
is, before he realizes it, the slave starts to believe the lies and idle
speculations that his oppressors hold about him. In his book, The Fire Next Time, James Baldwin wrote
of his brother: ‘He was defeated
before he died because, at the bottom of his heart, he really believed what
white people said about him.’ Frederick Douglass, who taught himself to read
and write at a time it was almost treason to teach a black slave in America to
read and write, said: ‘Slavery would not always be able to hold me within its
foul embrace; and this conviction like a word of living faith, strengthened me
through the darkest trials of my lot. This good spirit was from God; and to him
I offer thanksgiving and praise.’ It takes the knowledge of the truth for a man to be set
free. True freedom does not come by
human legislation. Yet in their
struggle to escape mental captivity, people get deceived and manipulated to
hold unto a taunting mirage. Why? Because truth is not superficial.
To escape mental
slavery, we must refuse to confuse facts with theories, outward appearances and
assumptions. We must not always assume that we have the natural intelligence to
resolve every challenge we face. Still, that should not make us to despair.
Because we are surrounded by so many people and organisations that try to force
us to accept some preordained conclusions, it is tempting to take the road of
least resistance by switching off our critical faculties and swallowing what is
thrown at us. Rebuff that temptation, and refuse to be a mental slave.
You must seize control
of your thoughts, organize your mind and keep it clear of hostile influences. Don’t relinquish the control of your
thoughts to others. The shameful, but hidden problem of slavery is that
insecure men with seeming advantages try to transfer their insecurity to other
men who are weak enough to receive it. Refuse to be a puppet of your
environment or a slave to your circumstances. Let your thinking be robust and
tenacious, separated from the feelings of shame and destitution. The mental
slavery of the cruellest kind is the condition where a man’s physical body is allowed to control his thinking. Like Frederick Douglass, don’t be ashamed or afraid to stand
and speak for your convictions; and
get ready to cross your invisible boundaries, discounting anxiety and terror.
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