A Word for Embracing Our Shared Humanity

Ubuntu • (oo-boon-tu) • noun

Definition: “I am because we are.”

Origin: Nguni, South African

We selected this week's word prior to the passing of civil rights icon John Lewis on Friday, July 17, but the principles of ubuntu echo Lewis's lifelong mission for justice and equality. As you learn about ubuntu, please think about America's struggle for civil rights and our many civil rights leaders. To learn more about Lewis' life, please read the obituary I wrote about him in the BBC.

Ubuntu is a southern African philosophy, proverb, and way of life that is hard to translate into English or other languages. The most succinct definition is found in the African proverb “A person is a person through other persons,” or “I am because we are.” The philosophy of ubuntu helped topple apartheid in South Africa, and both Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu have professed the necessity of ubuntu throughout their work.

When I think about this African philosophy, I immediately think about how it is the complete opposite of the western values America has encouraged all of us to adopt. Ubuntu is the antithesis of American individualism and the European Cartesian worldview that has dominated European thought since the 1600s. The defining phrase of Rene Descartes’ Cartesian philosophy was “I think therefore I am,” and it is easy to see how these five-word maxims could not be further apart. 

Ubuntu vs Rene Descartes

Under the Cartesian philosophy, one exists because their mind tells them that they exist. This concept of existence or being has no connection to the world around it. You do not exist because of the family and community that has brought you into the world and nurtured you for years. You do not exist because of the air you breathe, the water you drink, and the food you eat. You only exist because your brain is capable of acknowledging that you exist. This philosophy is incredibly individualistic and encourages people to be apart from, and not a part of, the world. Ubuntu professes an entirely different understanding of self and existence.

In ubuntu, “I am because we are” defines existence and in doing so, it places our shared humanity as the foundation of all existence. One does not exist because of the thoughts in their mind. One exists because of their capacity to look at another person and see a fellow human. When I look at another person and see a human being, and they also look at me and see a human being, we have both affirmed our collective and individual existence and humanity.

Ubuntu impairs one’s ability to turn a fellow human being into an “other,” while the Cartesian philosophy, intentionally or not, encourages it. If one’s humanity is determined entirely by one’s thoughts, people are also empowered to deny another’s humanity based on their thoughts. 

For example: if a European person practices “I think therefore I am,” the next logical question would be “what am I?” From there they could conclude that they are Catholic, Protestant, French, Spanish, Italian, white, etc. It becomes incredibly easy to decide “I think therefore I am white,” and then when they encounter non-white people, questions about whether non-white people are non-thinking and therefore non-human are bound to arise. 

The division, individualism, and separation from the earth that Cartesian thought professes have clearly influenced European ideas and actions both inside and outside the continent, and we are the worse for it. Ubuntu’s philosophy has the capacity to elevate existence and counter Cartesian division, and it should be no surprise that ubuntu has helped African people dismantle multiple facets of colonial oppression.

Nelson Mandela frequently referenced the importance of ubuntu to defeat apartheid and form an equitable government for all South Africans regardless of race. Ubuntu was also a guiding principle of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission that followed the end of apartheid and implemented restorative rather than retributive justice. Archbishop Desmond Tutu was the chairman of the TRC and he is known for his ubuntu theology.

Ubuntu vs. Segregation and Division

For a while now, it has struck me as bizarre how Americans attempt to emphasize the horrors of Jim Crow and segregation by calling America an apartheid state, yet South Africa’s policy of apartheid did not last as long as Jim Crow, and apartheid and segregation mean the same thing. Apartheid means “apart-hood,” “apartness,” or “living apart.” America uses the language of South Africa to articulate our horrors, and this makes me believe that Americans do not grasp the severity of our own oppressive structures. Jim Crow and segregation should have the same stigma as apartheid, but for some reason, calling America an apartheid state receives more attention. Colonization in Africa and America both focused on separating white people from African people in order to perpetually exploit African bodies, but it is interesting how America needs the language of South Africa to start understanding the dystopia we live in. Likewise, maybe we need South African language again and words like ubuntu to start articulating and creating the solutions for the apartness we have always had.

Despite the official end of Jim Crow and segregation, America remains as divided as ever. Black and white children still primarily attend different schools and live in different parts of the city. America still has racial inequalities regarding graduation rates, prison rates, and income. The policies have changed, but America’s divisive ethnocidal culture has not gone away. America’s essence-driven culture that prioritizes the essence of white people above the existence of others is an extension of Cartesian philosophy. Our society is not based on the obvious connection between human beings, but the ideas conceived in the minds of white people. Keeping white people apart from non-white existence has been the foundation of American life, and this abhorrent philosophy still undermines us today.

Ubuntu proposes a profound challenge to the American way of life, but this is a challenge we must undertake. The Black Lives Matter Movement and the protests following the murder of George Floyd express the cries from the Black community for America to see our shared humanity. Ubuntu is the philosophy of this movement, but tragically America is more acquainted with the language of South African division than liberation. We know about Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu, but we do not know about their philosophy. We cannot replicate these South African leaders, but we can incorporate their philosophy to improve our society.

This week please spend some time saying “I am because we are,” and continue to dismantle the individualistic, Cartesian philosophy that continues to undermine our lives today. This is how you break down systemic oppressive structures, by increasing awareness, education, and observing our own thoughts and actions. The philosophy of ubuntu can help us combat racism and inequality, but also can help save lives in the COVID-19 battle. Placing your existence in other people and realizing that you cannot be human all by yourself might incline you and everyone else to wear masks and take necessary precautions because harming others is the same as harming yourself. This is a belief that so many other cultures have realized and practiced for centuries, and one that America still has to accept. Words like ubuntu can make this profound truth that much easier to understand.  

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