To all my ‘Nasion’ brothers and sisters in Mauritius

Have you heard of Ubuntu before? I recently came across this philosophy which finds its origins in the Zulu culture of Africa. The philosophy expounds the idea that ‘a person is a person through other people’, the idea that ‘I exist through you’, that ‘I am because you are’. Ubuntu has its roots in humanist African philosophy, where the idea of community is one of the building blocks of society.

Think about it for a second. Would you be the mother or father you are was it not for your child? Would you be the teacher you are was it not for your students? Would you be the friend you are was it not for your friend? Impossible, right? That’s Ubuntu. The simple acknowledgement that I am who I am through you, that my existence is brought to life through your existence.

There is an interesting story illustrating the Ubuntu philosophy

A western anthropologist proposed a game to a group of children from a tribe in Africa. He placed a basket of sweets near a tree and made the children stand 100 meters away.  Then he announced that whoever reaches first would get all the sweets in the basket. He started the race and to his surprise, they all held each other’s hands, happily strolled together towards the basket of sweets, divided the sweets equally among themselves and ate them happily. When the Anthropologist asked them why they did so, they answered ‘Ubuntu’, ‘how can one be happy when the others are sad?’

It’s a beautiful philosophy, right? Remember that this is the same philosophy that produced the likes of Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu, great humanists, both hailing from Xhosa communities of South Africa. Ubuntu is the way of life of many in Xhosa culture and is probably what allowed Nelson Mandela to forgive the people who imprisoned him for 27 years. It is probably what allowed him to defend the idea that the best way forward for South Africa was to unite behind a single South African identity and for black South Africans to forgive White South Africans.

Here’s how Desmond Tutu explained the concept:

“Africans have a thing called Ubuntu. We believe that a person is a person through other persons. That my humanity is caught up, bound up, inextricably, with yours. When I dehumanize you, I dehumanize myself. The solitary human being is a contradiction in terms. Therefore, you seek to work for the common good because your humanity comes into its own in community, in belonging.”

In the article I wrote about the plight of Mauritians of slave ancestry which you can read here – https://girishramjuttun.com/2023/03/02/the-original-mauritians-a-crime-against-humanity/, one of the points I put forward to explain the economic gap between Mauritians of Asian ancestry and those of slave ancestry is that ‘Mauritians of Asian ancestry came to Mauritius with significant cultural support. They brought with them religious texts that have for millennia been helping people break out of the cycle of mental slavery. We fail to realise that slaves were brought to this island devoid of any such support.’ I am now rethinking this, asking myself whether this is true or if the Ubuntu philosophy is in fact not what African slaves brought with them from the mother continent? Could it be that what African slaves brought with them is so powerful yet so simple that it could change the whole trajectory of their descendants, in Mauritius and elsewhere?

The reason I wanted to explore Ubuntu is because I feel that such a philosophy could help us really start changing Mauritius, and by extension, the world, in ways that would actually make it a better place, and who better to start with than the people who have been told that they are meaningless and who coincidentally, come from the birthplace of Ubuntu?

Could Mauritians of slave ancestry take the higher moral ground by becoming the people who decide to, once more, become the first people, the foundational people, to build this new human infrastructure that would allow many others to upgrade their own perspectives? The RCC song saga comes to mind here. Right now, Mauritians are at loggerheads. We are all arguing, and while this is an argument we must have as a country, it is leading us to nowhere except further division and distance from one another.

Was the song absolutely horrendous? Yes. Was its super offensive to Mauritians of slave ancestry? Yes. Does it shine the light on historical issues that must be addressed? Absolutely. Does it also offer the same people that some call ‘Nasion’, the Mauritians of slave ancestry, the opportunity to lead the way of how we should live? 100%.

There is another beautiful illustration of Ubuntu widely available on the internet.

In Ubuntu philosophy, when someone does something wrong, he is taken to the centre of the village surrounded by his tribe for two days while they speak all the good he has done.

They believe each person is inherently good. Yes sometimes people make mistakes, which they believe is really cry for help. The belief is that unity and affirmation have more power to change behaviour than shame and punishment.

Nelson Mandela taught us that “Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies.” “Forgiveness liberates the soul, it removes fear. That’s why it’s such a powerful weapon.” How many among us admire him for that? Now, let’s for one second imagine that our ‘Nasion’ brothers and sisters were to use this same philosophy towards what has historically been considered the ‘elite’. What greater ‘punishment’ could there be for those children who have grown up with an entitlement mindset, believing that they are a unique crop, to be given a lesson in humility and more importantly, a lesson in humanity, by those same people who they consider ‘uneducated’?

Ubuntu transcends religions. There is no concept of God here. Here, the human being is treated as God. It is a way of life, one anyone can adopt, regardless of their religious faiths. It is liberating and empowering at the same time and can open doors to places that no one has yet seen.  

What I am advocating for is that the people who have been offended by the song these boys sang, and I am one of those offended people, to forgive them. They are young and spoke out of ignorance. The antidote to ignorance is education and awareness, not more ignorance.  They have, and their parents have asked for forgiveness, and it felt genuine. We should however not lose the opportunity to discuss the issue of discrimination, social and economic, of Mauritians of slave ancestry. This is too important a conversation and one whose time has come. As a strong believer of human equality and a strong advocate for social justice, starting with Mauritius, I will be happy to help do my part to keep this conversation going.

I would also request my brothers and sisters of African slave ancestry to think whether Ubuntu could take a rebirth in Mauritius, the place known as, ‘the original paradise’, ‘the place after which heaven was copied’, the place where anything is possible, the place that could serve as a template for the world to learn how plurality can not just be made to work, but be made to become the most potent asset a country could possess. Ubuntu is after all, an incredibly powerful philosophy from the mother continent, from where Mauritians of slave ancestry come from and from where we ultimately all come from.

Glory to thee