The Xhosa people and apartheid in South Africa

Xhosa people are Black Africans who live in the Republic of South Africa, mainly in Ciskei and Transkei in the Eastern Cape areas (CESA 2008). Recent statistics say there were 6,734,000 of them living in beehive shaped huts. They are mostly cattle herders ruled by chiefs (CESA).

The Xhosa people were among the Bantu migrants from Southern Zaire to most of the African south of the Sahara (CESA 2008). They were considered descendants of the Nguni clan. They drifted to the Eastern Cape where they adopted the name. From 1705, they clashed with Dutch-African farmers called Boers. The traditional areas of the tribe later became administrative districts of the Union of South Africa in 1910. The Union was part of the British Empire and Commonwealth till after the Second World War. An election was held in 1948, which the Afrikaner National socialist party won. It restored Afrikaner control to South Africa since its annexation of the Boer Republics in 1879. The Afrikaner government withdrew South Africa from the Commonwealth and established a policy of segregation called "apartheid" or apart-ness. The Xhosa people actively opposed the policy in the ensuing decades for which they were persecuted and deprived of most civil and legal rights. However, some education and economic freedom were available to them and other Black people. Among them were lawyers and business people who worked against the apartheid until its abolition by the Nationalist government. One outstanding figure was Nelson Mandela, who was elected president in 1994 and gained international prominence (CESA).

The apartheid system inflicted much suffering and disadvantage upon the Xhosa people (CESA 2008). The system has been technically abolished but it will take much longer to heal the wounds it has caused the victims. A general hatred towards the Whites has taken roots in their hearts for being told what to do instead of working productively with them (CESA).

Political Situation

The apartheid system brought all kinds of suffering upon the Xhosa people (CESA 2008). It was later on technically abolished but the wounds it inflicted on the minds and hearts of the people would not quickly heal. The system created a deep hatred for white people in general who always told them what to do. Two of the Xhosa people who exemplified racial rejection of the system were Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela and his wife Winnie (CESA).

Nelson Mandela

Mandela was a Xhosa resistance leader who was imprisoned for 27 years for opposing apartheid but later became the first president of the African National Congress in 1994 (UXL Encyclopedia of World Biography 2003). For his heroism, he was one of those awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. As president, he was viewed as a consensus builder with much personal authority. This quality greatly helped him in the transition task to a majority democracy and a peaceful future. He supported the creation of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which would offer amnesty to those like him who committed crimes against the apartheid system. Thereafter, he rose to become the leading political prisoner of the late 20th century as well as a major African reformer. He became an international symbol of human rights. He was known for his prowess as a negotiator and practical politician and recognized by his nation and people as a blessing to them (UXL Encyclopedia of World Biography).

Winning Mandela

The wife of Nelson Mandela, she was the first Black professional social welfare worker who extended the same dedication and service to her people (UXL Encyclopedia of World Biography 2003). She struggled passionately for the equality and justice for all the people of South Africa. It cost her, as it cost her husband, massive harassment, imprisonment and banishment. After 33 years of marriage, the Mandelas separated and later divorced. She was re-elected president of the African National Congress. Despite scandalous connection with the African Youth Club and a series of legal orders, she gained popularity among the poorest people (UXL Encyclopedia).

The National Suicide of the Xhosa People

This was one of the most infamous events in human history. The "cattle killing" in the Transkei in 1856 involved the tactical starvation of 80% of the Xhosa people in the space of 12 months (Christian Action 2004). Through some kind of mass hysteria, the Xhosa was made to believe they had to kill their cattle. Destroy their food and stop planting for their future. The pliant people accepted the suggestion and even welcomed their fate. At the end of that year, the land was filled with vultures, prying over and diving over carcasses. At least 100,000 Xhosa had perished in the starvation. When British officials came to distribute food, they found this specter. The beguiled people had climbed into their grain pits to see if they had been miraculously filled. But emaciation either drove them to rake for roots on the ground, eat their shields or leather skirts or die (Christian Action).

Culture

Identity

The Xhosa people evolved from the Nguni clan, which migrated from Central Africa into these Southern Africa areas (CESA 2008). They borrowed the culture and language of the Khoisan peoples, who were Bushmen and Hottentot tribes, with whom the Xhobas lived symbiotically. They were mostly herders and farmers in early times (CESA).

Language

The Xhosa language was a Bantu language (CESA 2008). Bantu languages were part of the Benue-Congo category of the Niger-Kordofanian language group. The uniqueness of the Nguni languages lies in the clicking sounds of their consonants. The languages were borrowed from the Khoisan and San families (CESA).

Customs

Fathers or grandparents give the children's names, which have special meanings (CESA 2008). A new bride is given a new name by her mother-in-law. Children are also given new names when old enough to go to school. These names are often English names. The custom is to greet everyone when arriving and leaving. If this is not done, the visitor should greet at least the oldest person present. A younger person cannot call older people by their names. They are, instead, addressed with titles such as "father," "mother," "pastor" or "aunt." A visitor is also expected to ask for permission if he is leaving. At mealtime, the oldest person on the table is first served the food and men before women. The last to be served are the children (CESA).

Clothing

The traditional wear for the Xhosa consisted of skin garments (CESA 2008). Women are required dresses that cover the shoulders and upper arms. Hats and scarves are frequently worn, especially in church. Dresses with beads are a sign of ancestor worship (CESA).

Marriage father determines that a son becomes a man when he is ready to enter the "hut (CESA 2008). The boy is prepared for the event for about 6 weeks. At this time, he is circumcised and taught the tradition of the tribe, including ancestor worship. The boy is usually 12 to 18 years old. When these conditions are met, the boy is free to marry. The families of both the boy and the girl arrange marriages. The groom's father approaches and negotiates with the family of the bride-to-be for the bride price, called the lobola. The usual price is 10 cows or the money equivalent. When an agreement is reached, the groom's family captures the bride-to-be and brings her to live with them. Because the Xhosa people are mostly Christian, the parties proceed to the church for a two-day service. One day is spent in the groom's village and the other in the new bride's village. Among non-Christian families, an agreement signals the marriage itself (CESA).

Religion

Ancestor worship is basic among the Xhosa (CESA 2008). They believe that their ancestors reward those who remember and honor them and punish those who neglect them. Since the introduction of Christianity, they have incorporated it into their ancient faith. Xhosa people are closely knit and loyal to one another. They share most of their things among themselves (CESA).

Christianity Among the Xhosa

They easily responded to the approach of the early Christian missionaries (CESA 2008). Most of them have some knowledge about the Christian religion and are willing listeners to teachings of the Gospel. The Christian religion and the Xhosa's ancient worship supported them through the decades of hardship at apartheid. Of the Christian churches, the Methodist church has the largest membership in South Africa. Other popular Christian churches are the Anglican and Presbyterian groups. The Xhosa people account for 20% of all Christians in South Africa (CESA).

Cultural Practices

Cooperative Labor and Beer-Drinking

Cooperative extra-familial labor is common in Southern Africa and other parts of the continent (McAllister 2004). It has been found to be useful in rural areas where household labor is wanting and poverty reduces other resources and hired labor is short. The work is unspecialized and the laborers work on rotational basis to break labor bottlenecks so that the field or garden can be worked on according to a most profitable timeframe. The work performed may not always be efficient but it remains useful and the laborers have some kind of entertainment among themselves after a day's hard work. This entertainment is the ceremonial or festive taking of alcoholic drinks at events called "beer parties." Researchers noted the significance of the festive element of work among the laborers but showed beer as an essential aspect of work. The rule in these beer work parties are adjusted to the particular workers involved. It invokes the overall value and morality of helpfulness and reciprocity, which are part of beer-drinking events. It is an expression of a general interdependence between homesteads. Ordinary beer parties emphasize the general principle of mutual helpfulness and mutual relationships in homesteads. But beer parties for harvest give thanks to ancestors for the homestead's harvest. These parties give recognition to those who plow the homestead's garden (McAllister).

A recent analyzed the relation between cooperative work and beer drinking. It found that beer drinks served as a contact point of everyday activity and ideas in the Xhosa society in Transkei (McAllister 2004). It taught that the people of Transkei viewed cooperative work as covering history, political economy and local cultural characteristics. Production, building the homestead and identity were embodied in the distribution of goods produced and in consumption. This was the relationship between work and beer. How labor was mobilized to the end stage of consumption of the product of labor showed the orderly procedure of social life among the Xhosa people in Transkei. Beer drinking was a composite of a wide process of distribution with maize as raw material. Labor and beer were part of a single local system (McAllister).

Beadwork

This is another aspect of their creative culture. Their choice of color and composition produced subtle combinations like a blue rectangle or a red brushstroke (Van Wyk 2003). It could suggest that globalization is fading away. The subtlety required a deeper sensitivity to decode the meaning within the work. It could conjure repetitive sounds or a meditational chant in the spiritual realm. Beadwork among the Xhosa tribe was a kind of religious art (Van Wyk).

Beadwork among the Xhosa people symbolizes a sense of belonging to one another, to their place or tradition (Van Wyk 2003). They signified identity and ethnic or regional roots through which moments of history could be understood. It was also spiritual art. Tradition forbade them to create images of living things. So they resorted to abstract forms and beadwork as alternative. The works were full of color. It was their way of proclaiming another Africa in the abstract, of light and giving representation to women's work. It is the primary sacred art form for the Xhosa, which calls for recognition as such and within the context of African art. Beadwork designs allow social identities to be read. It is a specific means of self-expression, revealing individual styles of the creator and the one who wears the beads. And beadwork colors, patterns and motifs illustrate the function of language (Van Wyk).

Singing

Musicality is more than strong in the African community: it is a fact of life (Cornwell 2004). Church music gave the people a specific means of expressing their sadness and frustration over the apartheid system. And when democracy was won, music was much sweeter to them. At all other times, music has been the hearts of the Xhosa, as well as the Zulu and Sotho, people, who have been singing all their lives. Many styles of singing have evolved in direct response to oppression and suffering. Township music about the evil of the apartheid system produced hits like the Nelson Mandela-inspired "Bring Him Back Home." Their sounds also reflected the resilience of the people. It was about the need for vigilance. Ten years after the victory of the African National Congress, the Xhosa people did not know how to translate the meaning of freedom. They felt very bitter about their experience of separation and the lowering of their self-esteem. The impact would stay on for a long time and reveal itself in their singing (Cornwell).

Conclusion

The Xhosa people were a historically oppressed race by the apartheid system. The inhumane-ness of the system was graphically demonstrated by the struggles and extreme miseries of its heroic leaders Nelson and Winnie Mandela and the people themselves duped into starvation in 1856. Yet they are a people with their own distinct and rich culture. The Xhosa people cherish their own identity as a race, language, customs, clothing, religion, marriage observances and cultural practices. These cultural practices reveal that identity, the experience of oppression and aspirations, which cannot and should not be ignored. Their value of work includes rewarding themselves for their labor through beer parties, a form of socialization. The wounds of oppression and misery find their way into art forms, such as ceramics, beadwork and song. A race, which produced heroes like Nelson and Winnie Mandela, and turns out excellent and deeply meaningful art works, deserves recognition and appreciation from the rest of the world. Their creative talents should be strongly encouraged in achieving their own aspirations as a distinct and valued people.