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The Lessons of Ubuntu: How an African Philosophy Can Inspire Racial Healing in America
A roadmap to healing America’s wounds, bridging the racial divide, and diminishing our anger.
Mathabane touched the hearts of millions of people around the world with his powerful memoir, Kaffir Boy, about growing up under apartheid in South Africa and was praised by Oprah Winfrey and Bill Clinton. In his new book, The Lessons of Ubuntu: How an African Philosophy Can Inspire Racial Healing in America , Mathabane draws on his experiences with racism and racial healing in both Africa and America, where he has lived for the past thirty-seven years, to provide a timely and provocative approach to the search for solutions to America’s biggest and most intractable social problem: the divide between the races.
In his new book, Mathabane tells what each of us can do to become agents for racial healing and justice by learning how to practice the ten principles of Ubuntu, an African philosophy based on the concept of our shared humanity. The book’s chapters on obstacles correlate to chapters on Ubuntu principles:
The Teaching of Hatred vs. Empathy
Racial Classification vs. Compromise
Profiling vs. Learning
Mutual Distrust vs. Nonviolence
Black Bigotry vs. Change
Dehumanization vs. Fogiveness
The Church and White Supremacy vs. Restorative Justice
Lack of Empathy vs. Love
The Myth That Blacks and Whites Are Monolithic vs. Spirituality
Self-Segregation: American Apartheid vs. Hope
By practicing Ubuntu in our daily lives, we can learn that hatred is not innate, that even racists can change, and that diversity is America’s greatest strength and the key to ensuring our future.
Concerned by the violent protests on university campuses and city streets, and the killing of black men by the police, Mathabane challenges both blacks and whites to use the lessons of Ubuntu to overcome the stereotypes and mistaken beliefs that we have about each other so that we can connect as allies in the quest for racial justice.
Mathabane touched the hearts of millions of people around the world with his powerful memoir, Kaffir Boy, about growing up under apartheid in South Africa and was praised by Oprah Winfrey and Bill Clinton. In his new book, The Lessons of Ubuntu: How an African Philosophy Can Inspire Racial Healing in America , Mathabane draws on his experiences with racism and racial healing in both Africa and America, where he has lived for the past thirty-seven years, to provide a timely and provocative approach to the search for solutions to America’s biggest and most intractable social problem: the divide between the races.
In his new book, Mathabane tells what each of us can do to become agents for racial healing and justice by learning how to practice the ten principles of Ubuntu, an African philosophy based on the concept of our shared humanity. The book’s chapters on obstacles correlate to chapters on Ubuntu principles:
The Teaching of Hatred vs. Empathy
Racial Classification vs. Compromise
Profiling vs. Learning
Mutual Distrust vs. Nonviolence
Black Bigotry vs. Change
Dehumanization vs. Fogiveness
The Church and White Supremacy vs. Restorative Justice
Lack of Empathy vs. Love
The Myth That Blacks and Whites Are Monolithic vs. Spirituality
Self-Segregation: American Apartheid vs. Hope
By practicing Ubuntu in our daily lives, we can learn that hatred is not innate, that even racists can change, and that diversity is America’s greatest strength and the key to ensuring our future.
Concerned by the violent protests on university campuses and city streets, and the killing of black men by the police, Mathabane challenges both blacks and whites to use the lessons of Ubuntu to overcome the stereotypes and mistaken beliefs that we have about each other so that we can connect as allies in the quest for racial justice.
272 pages, Hardcover
Published January 30, 2018
19 people are currently reading
193 people want to read
About the author
Mark Mathabane
29 books104 followersMark Mathabane (born Johannes Mathabane) is an author, lecturer, and former collegiate tennis player.
Dr. Mathabane touched the hearts of millions with his sensational autobiography "Kaffir Boy." Telling the true story of his coming of age under apartheid in South Africa, the book won a prestigious Christopher Award, rose to No. 3 on The New York Times best-sellers list and to No. 1 on the Washington Post best-sellers list, and was translated into several languages.
Dr. Mathabane touched the hearts of millions with his sensational autobiography "Kaffir Boy." Telling the true story of his coming of age under apartheid in South Africa, the book won a prestigious Christopher Award, rose to No. 3 on The New York Times best-sellers list and to No. 1 on the Washington Post best-sellers list, and was translated into several languages.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
February 26, 2018
The title caught my eye at the library and it sounded like a good read. Have never read 'Kaffir Boy' so didn't know what to expect at all with not having read anything about the book prior to picking it up.
The book is pretty much what it says on the tin. The author takes 10 lessons, adds his own personal experiences and talks about how the US can heal its racial divisions in Part 1. In Part 2 he discusses where to go from here what are the key points in this healing.
The negative reviews are on point. Without being super familiar with the author (and not really that interested in Googling further), the book is either an appeal to a "both sides are at fault" (or more) mentality or the author is an idealist about how to fix things or he didn't go beyond the surface of the various topics he brings up.
There are multiple instances of this. He discusses safe spaces and couches them as possible places where people self-segregate and never leaves the bubble to actually engage on the topic. He claims neither major party candidate in the 2016 election actually appealed to all races of people. He talks about actor Mark Wahlberg and how Wahlberg was an inspiration for changing his life after being arrested.
The author does not engage further on these topics: never accounts for the inequality of effort, accessibility, platforms, willingness to engage, etc. regarding safe spaces and seems to assume everyone involved must want to engage and/or listen, etc. He says he wondered what white people were thinking regarding commentary that Hillary Clinton's campaign would win X state due to a surge of voters of color (why was he so worried about *white* voters and not people of color on the flip side eyeing the Trump campaign?). He fails to mention Wahlberg seems to have never reached out to his victim (who is Vietnamese).
Overall it felt like the author never quite got *there* for me. It could be he is writing for a particular audience that does agree and feel the same way he does. But I couldn't help but really but notice this when he discusses Khzir Khan and the 2016 Democratic National Convention (Khan gave a moving speech about his son, the late Army Captain Humayun Khan, who gave his life in the Iraq War). The speech was widely circulated and created a lot of conversation, part of which involved Khan's criticism of Trump. Mathabane discusses other parts of the speech such as how Khan talked about seeing tombstones of soldiers of all faiths being buried at Arlington Cemetery. The closest the author gets is noting Khan asks Trump in the speech if the latter had ever been to Arlington to see the graves. Having just read Khan's book it was maddening and puzzling that the author would frame Khan's speech in this way, while ignoring Khan's jabs about whether Trump has read the Constitution and is willing to criticize his own party leaders. At the end Khan specifically calls people to vote for the healer (Clinton) and not the divider, Trump.
If one had no familiarity with Khan's speech then I could see how Mathabane's summary of it would support his stance of how Khan's speech was about our common humanity. There was a lot more to it that was perhaps, yes, outside the scope of what Mathabane is discussing. But it made me wonder why on earth didn't he pick another example.
That said, I suspect this is a book that will appeal to particular people. But after parsing through his examples I find I'm skeptical about the author's approach. Glad it was a library borrow.
The book is pretty much what it says on the tin. The author takes 10 lessons, adds his own personal experiences and talks about how the US can heal its racial divisions in Part 1. In Part 2 he discusses where to go from here what are the key points in this healing.
The negative reviews are on point. Without being super familiar with the author (and not really that interested in Googling further), the book is either an appeal to a "both sides are at fault" (or more) mentality or the author is an idealist about how to fix things or he didn't go beyond the surface of the various topics he brings up.
There are multiple instances of this. He discusses safe spaces and couches them as possible places where people self-segregate and never leaves the bubble to actually engage on the topic. He claims neither major party candidate in the 2016 election actually appealed to all races of people. He talks about actor Mark Wahlberg and how Wahlberg was an inspiration for changing his life after being arrested.
The author does not engage further on these topics: never accounts for the inequality of effort, accessibility, platforms, willingness to engage, etc. regarding safe spaces and seems to assume everyone involved must want to engage and/or listen, etc. He says he wondered what white people were thinking regarding commentary that Hillary Clinton's campaign would win X state due to a surge of voters of color (why was he so worried about *white* voters and not people of color on the flip side eyeing the Trump campaign?). He fails to mention Wahlberg seems to have never reached out to his victim (who is Vietnamese).
Overall it felt like the author never quite got *there* for me. It could be he is writing for a particular audience that does agree and feel the same way he does. But I couldn't help but really but notice this when he discusses Khzir Khan and the 2016 Democratic National Convention (Khan gave a moving speech about his son, the late Army Captain Humayun Khan, who gave his life in the Iraq War). The speech was widely circulated and created a lot of conversation, part of which involved Khan's criticism of Trump. Mathabane discusses other parts of the speech such as how Khan talked about seeing tombstones of soldiers of all faiths being buried at Arlington Cemetery. The closest the author gets is noting Khan asks Trump in the speech if the latter had ever been to Arlington to see the graves. Having just read Khan's book it was maddening and puzzling that the author would frame Khan's speech in this way, while ignoring Khan's jabs about whether Trump has read the Constitution and is willing to criticize his own party leaders. At the end Khan specifically calls people to vote for the healer (Clinton) and not the divider, Trump.
If one had no familiarity with Khan's speech then I could see how Mathabane's summary of it would support his stance of how Khan's speech was about our common humanity. There was a lot more to it that was perhaps, yes, outside the scope of what Mathabane is discussing. But it made me wonder why on earth didn't he pick another example.
That said, I suspect this is a book that will appeal to particular people. But after parsing through his examples I find I'm skeptical about the author's approach. Glad it was a library borrow.
January 6, 2018
Please see my review that is posted on Amazon.com under C. Wong.
October 29, 2017
Ubuntu is a Zulu word for our common humanity. This is Mark Mathabane’s prescription for healing the racial divide in America. If all could learn to use the language of Ubuntu, instead of rely on stereotypes of each other we could get a lot closer to a more civil existence. This is a tall order and he seemingly places the burdens equally. It’s facing and fighting a racism without racists, which is difficult if not impossible. I admire his effort and his overcoming of horrific circumstances growing up under Apartheid in South Africa.
His understanding of the particulars here in America don’t always seem well thought out. He suggests that Michael Brown was shot in Ferguson, MO for stealing cigars. Ouch. And he invokes Martin Luther King, Jr. frequently but seems to lock him into a particular period, and leaves out much of King’s later years radicalism. He breaks the book into two parts. Part one deals with The Ten Obstacles To Racial Healing over ten chapters and part two is The Ten Principles Of Ubuntu: The Keys To Racial Healing covering another ten chapters.
All of the advice he offers is practical often buttressed by his personal experiences. The book has a highly optimistic feel almost to the point of being idealistic. I can imagine readers taking self inventory and challenging their own thoughts and actions to bring their language closer to Ubuntu. If this is the aim of this book, then he will have succeeded. Thanks to Edelweiss and Skyhorse Publishing for providing access to an advanced ebook. Book will hit shelves Jan. 18, 2018.
His understanding of the particulars here in America don’t always seem well thought out. He suggests that Michael Brown was shot in Ferguson, MO for stealing cigars. Ouch. And he invokes Martin Luther King, Jr. frequently but seems to lock him into a particular period, and leaves out much of King’s later years radicalism. He breaks the book into two parts. Part one deals with The Ten Obstacles To Racial Healing over ten chapters and part two is The Ten Principles Of Ubuntu: The Keys To Racial Healing covering another ten chapters.
All of the advice he offers is practical often buttressed by his personal experiences. The book has a highly optimistic feel almost to the point of being idealistic. I can imagine readers taking self inventory and challenging their own thoughts and actions to bring their language closer to Ubuntu. If this is the aim of this book, then he will have succeeded. Thanks to Edelweiss and Skyhorse Publishing for providing access to an advanced ebook. Book will hit shelves Jan. 18, 2018.
March 9, 2018
Nelson Mandela used the philosophy of Ubuntu to end the apartheid in South Africa. To Americans, this means little because we have no real knowledge of how horrible those events were. Using this philosphy of human life matters above all else, and treating each other with love, we could change the social dynamic that seems to have split with the current political parties. Awesome read.
August 6, 2018
There are some egregious editing errors in this book.
I think that M.M. is far too generous and hopeful in his assessment of what POTUS might do to instill racial reconciliation, given his latest racist Twitter tirade. But the concept of ubuntu is tragically lacking in the U.S. and it's one of the things my South African husband misses most. It's real.
I think that M.M. is far too generous and hopeful in his assessment of what POTUS might do to instill racial reconciliation, given his latest racist Twitter tirade. But the concept of ubuntu is tragically lacking in the U.S. and it's one of the things my South African husband misses most. It's real.
January 15, 2022
great read
I read this slowly, one of the few books I’ve done this way. I chewed and the put into practice then came back for more morsels. Wash, rinse, repeat. Lovely book that I wish was mandatory in classrooms.
I read this slowly, one of the few books I’ve done this way. I chewed and the put into practice then came back for more morsels. Wash, rinse, repeat. Lovely book that I wish was mandatory in classrooms.
April 4, 2022
This was a DNF for me unfortunately.
January 1, 2022
Resentment is like drinking poison and hoping it will kill your enemies.
No human race is superior. All collective judgments are wrong. Only racists make them.
In the 1976 Soweto uprising, parents requesting the bodies of their slain children, were told that they were first to pay for the bullets that killed them.
How was Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, and even 12 year old Tamir Rice were depicted as giant like predators and their killers as helpless, even though they had guns? In reality, Trayvon had a bag of skittles, Michael was unarmed, and Tamir was brandishing a toy gun.
We in America cannot continue top dehumanize an entire population of young black men, who have the potential to become productive members of society and citizens, and expect to have a future as a country.
All religions have at some point or another been used to justify evil.
Racism has turned us into different species without any bond of empathy. All human pain is real.
You will never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view, until you climb inside his skin and walk around in it.
It's imperative for our school s to teach the importance of diversity and multiculturalism so that students can learn the value of empathy buy understanding other cultures.
America is a society where violence is not only epidemic, it's often the first resort used in disputes and confrontations between individuals.
After the passage of the 1994 crime bill, Americans saw the US prison population leap from approximately 350,000 to 2.43 million, with most of the increase due to changes in sentencing policies. The most controversial provision was the elimination of higher education for inmates., which led to a higher recidivism rate due to lack of future employment.
Mass incarceration is a lucrative $80 billion industry with prisons proliferating faster than libraries.
The average American high school student spends an average of 900 hours in class and 1,500 hours watching television. High school students in India and China spend twice as much time studying.
No one is beyond blame.
Exposure to other cultures has made a difference in the lives of many.
No human race is superior. All collective judgments are wrong. Only racists make them.
In the 1976 Soweto uprising, parents requesting the bodies of their slain children, were told that they were first to pay for the bullets that killed them.
How was Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, and even 12 year old Tamir Rice were depicted as giant like predators and their killers as helpless, even though they had guns? In reality, Trayvon had a bag of skittles, Michael was unarmed, and Tamir was brandishing a toy gun.
We in America cannot continue top dehumanize an entire population of young black men, who have the potential to become productive members of society and citizens, and expect to have a future as a country.
All religions have at some point or another been used to justify evil.
Racism has turned us into different species without any bond of empathy. All human pain is real.
You will never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view, until you climb inside his skin and walk around in it.
It's imperative for our school s to teach the importance of diversity and multiculturalism so that students can learn the value of empathy buy understanding other cultures.
America is a society where violence is not only epidemic, it's often the first resort used in disputes and confrontations between individuals.
After the passage of the 1994 crime bill, Americans saw the US prison population leap from approximately 350,000 to 2.43 million, with most of the increase due to changes in sentencing policies. The most controversial provision was the elimination of higher education for inmates., which led to a higher recidivism rate due to lack of future employment.
Mass incarceration is a lucrative $80 billion industry with prisons proliferating faster than libraries.
The average American high school student spends an average of 900 hours in class and 1,500 hours watching television. High school students in India and China spend twice as much time studying.
No one is beyond blame.
Exposure to other cultures has made a difference in the lives of many.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews