Page 12 - University of Pretoria RESEARCH REVIEW 2018

Understanding the past –
the craft of historians
Ian Macqueen, Department of Historical and Heritage Studies
In the context of heated, often ill-informed, public debate in South Africa, the craft of the historian is to challenge fiercely-held assumptions and to point to the importance of a firm grasp of history.
Acase in point is the history of Black Consciousness in South Africa, which is too often cast as anti-white. In so doing, its humanist dimensions are obscured and its ecumenical origins forgotten.
Dr Ian Macqueen’s recent book titled, Black Consciousness and Progressive Movements under Apartheid (UKZN Press, 2018), foregrounds
the cross-racial relationships in
South Africa that characterised Black Consciousness at its inception, and which persisted until its banning
by the apartheid regime in 1977.
The book tells the story of the life
and work of Steve Biko and, among others, his friendship with the philosopher and lecturer at the University of Natal, Dr Rick Turner, who was assassinated in January 1978, four months after Biko’s
death. The 1970s was a period of intense activism when strong global connections – with movements such as ecumenism, feminism and the New Left – were forged. It was in this rich context that Black Consciousness emerged in dialogue with competing visions of freedom espoused by progressive movements elsewhere. Although these were never easy relationships, the dialogue sharpened ideas.
According to Dr Macqueen, it is often forgotten that churches played an important role in providing the space, protected to some degree from the apartheid state, in which activists and students could meet and organise. For example, the University Christian Movement was instrumental in helping to facilitate early contacts among students who were segregated by the apartheid state.
The impact of Black Consciousness on white-dominated progressive organisations is also highlighted, including the National Union of South African Students (NUSAS) and the Christian Institute. Founded in 1963 by predominantly dissident Dutch Reformed clerics, and led by Beyers Naude, the Christian Institute was radicalised in part through
its contacts with Biko and other
Black Consciousness activists. The newspaper Pro Veritate, which was associated with the Christian Institute, featured Biko on the cover of its last issue before it was closed by the apartheid state; what had begun as an ecumenical church newsletter
in the early 1960s was significantly transformed, both theologically and politically; this, in no small measure, due to the influence of young black students.
In 2018, Dr Macqueen drew on his research to publish a review article in the Journal of Southern African Studies and in the online journal Thread.
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