W. E. B. Du Bois, one of the great 20th century American scholars, and “the most influential black intellectual of the twentieth century”, with a sharp intellect and critical mind, relocated to Africa, specifically Ghana, in 1960, became a Ghanaian citizen in 1963 and a few months later, he passed on to eternal glory at 95 and was buried just outside the Government House in Accra. A prolific writer, Dr. Du Bois left a legacy of education in service of humanity. Today, I reflect on one of his unique contributions on education as detailed in the 10 essays on “The Education of Black People” written over a period of 50 years. I focus especially on the address that Du Bois gave in 1908 at his Alma mater, Fisk University, 20 years after his graduation. The address was titled: “Galileo Galilei”.
Galileo was the great scientist of the 16th century with tremendous accomplishments to his name. He “found the law of falling bodies; he invented the telescope; he discovered the moons of Jupiter; he explained the reflected light of planets; he laid down the laws of cohesion; he studied the law of the pendulum and applied it to the clock;” and above all he proved the correctness of “the Copernican doctrine that the sun and not the earth is the centre of our universe.” Among all his inventions and discoveries, however, this last one about the earth in relation to our universe was too much for the authorities of his time and age. The most fearful of those authorities was the Church and with his new theory, Galileo was a target of the Inquisition. How did he perform in light of his education and scholarship?
“When the man who has a clear vision of Right, finds himself successfully approaching the goal, how shall he meet Jealousy, Error, Selfishness, and Ignorance?” This was how Du Bois characterised the dilemma of Galileo at his 1633 trial. Clearly it was a fight against ignorance, selfishness, error and jealousy, and with all of these attributes summed up in the most vicious authority of the time, the personification of these opponents is warranted.
Yet, the question remains: how shall an educated man meet such a vicious enemy? What is the character of education? What does it prepare one for? Galileo’s choice at the critical moment in a life that was already full of tremendous achievements was to capitulate. He lied. As Du Bois puts it: Galileo, “deliberately and with full knowledge publicly and unequivocally, made one of the straightest and most uncompromising denials of what he knew to be the truth.” To save his life, the intellectual of the age recanted his theories and capitulated to the ignorance of the age.
What is the character of education? What does it enable us to achieve? We have a useful comparison, thankfully, one of the rarest sources of pride, in our own corner of the earth. Galileo’s science was pitted against the 17th Century Church’s faith. Three centuries later, it was not science against faith; it was one ignorant conception of humanity against an enlightened theory of humanity. Nelson Mandela’s struggle for human dignity for all God’s creation collided with the apartheid theorists’ practice of subjugation and discrimination. At the trial of Rivonia, Mandela faced a dilemma similar to Galileo’s. What was his choice?
Proudly and stubbornly, Mandela declared: “During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if need be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.” That was on April 20, 1964. For 27 years, he paid with his freedom for his obdurate adherence to the principle of freedom for all. However in the end, Mandela was vindicated and lived to achieve his ideal of a democratic and free society.
What did Galileo achieve with his capitulation to ignorance and selfishness at age 70? He was jailed and tortured for nine years before he finally died, having no other opportunity to make further contributions to knowledge. Imagine how history would have treated him if he had spoken truth to power at the trial? More importantly, imagine the difference it would have made for the world of science and humanity.
It is true, of course, that hindsight is, but foresight is not, always 20/20. But if we are privileged to witness history in its most transparent form over and over again, the mark of a good education is to learn from it so we do not fall into the same error of judgment.
It is for this reason that I am puzzled every time that I see the same ugly side of history repeated by educated men and women. The challenges we face as a people are not caused by the so-called lowly class. The proverbial hewers of wood and drawers of water do not spend their night times with Mr. President or His Excellency the Executive Governor. The dreg of society do not tweet obnoxious messages that mock a genuine cause for the release of innocent girls from the bloodied hands of killers and sadists just to promote a president’s ambition. How does a good education lead folks to do such terrible deeds?
Education is a value; it is the development of one’s awareness for the appreciation of the human condition, and the determination to do something about it. Those that society has favored to receive good education therefore owe a reciprocal duty to give back and this may take various forms. If you find yourself in a position of authority as a result of your education, the worst you can do to yourself is to betray that sacred trust. And if you are in a position to advise those in a position of authority, the worst you can do is to fail to speak truth to power.
Just as leaders and their advisors have their responsibility so do followers. Education is an eye opener, making transparent the origin, cause and course of oppression, and empowering the oppressed to seek liberation from their oppressors. A leadership that displays no evidence of having fire in the belly to lead cannot be trusted with the task of liberating the oppressed and to that extent cannot be trusted with occupying the sacred position of leadership. For a long time, “educated” folks have been the worst offenders of the crime of ethnic and sectarian politics. What is the character of an education that only perpetuates ignorance, prejudice and sycophancy?
Nor must the blame for these and other misdeeds be laid at the doorstep of poverty. In the days before the flag independence of the country, when the colonial exploiters still ran the show, wealth wasn’t flowing around the nation. Yet our people pulled together to fight against the colonisers. They rallied to the cause of freedom and independence.
We have clearly exchanged external colonialism for internal colonialism in various ways. But our education appeared to have been pathetically but voluntarily placed as instruments in the hands of the internal exploiters. Thus, under one banner or the other, we have seen youths in various stages of educational achievement voluntarily organising rallies supporting one side or another in what is clearly an act of self-degradation. We saw this before in “Youths Earnestly Seek Abacha” and it is as shameless now as it was then. What is the character of an education that capitulates to sycophantic adulation at the expense of what is known to be true?
