South African Apartheid and a Bonhoeffer Scholar’s Words for Today

John W. De Gruchy is a Christian theologian who grew up during apartheid in South Africa. He used his study of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, in particular, to form his theological resistance to apartheid. One of his works addressing this exact topic, Bonhoeffer and South Africa: Theology in Dialogue seeks to bring the insights of Bonhoeffer directly to South Africa under apartheid (it was published in 1984). The words he wrote in it continue to feel vexingly relevant to this day.

De Gruchy writes, “[W]hites, on the whole, do not want to know what blacks are thinking and feeling, how many people are in detention…. or what new legislation implies, even for their own civil rights. Indeed, they [white people in apartheid Africa] tend to accept meekly the whittling away of their own freedoms on the basis of a belief that it is all necessary in order to maintain white security and therefore white privilege. As Bonhoeffer put it, ‘Whatever is useful is declared to be just'” (71).

De Gruchy, writing during apartheid, is making this observation: that the people in power would rather see their own rights whittled away in order to maintain some sense of superiority and privilege than confront the reality of racism and injustice in their society. Again, “Directly coupled with racism is a fear of the future… the privilege of security that whites experience now carries with it the anxiety that it cannot last” (70). As those in power know, their power is not unlimited and has an end. It is easy to seek security from above rather than deal with the reality of the situation’s power imbalance and injustice. It is easier not to know or to look away than to face injustice and do something about it.

As Christians, we must continue to challenge ourselves to look directly at the oppressed and value the “view from below” as Bonhoeffer put it. Christ came to set the captives free and to preach good news to the poor, and we must continue this.

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