"In Africa where so many different kinds of political, social and
economic conditions exist it is not an easy task to generalise on
political and socio-economic patterns. Remnants of communalism and
feudalism still remain and in parts of the continent ways of life
have changed very little from traditional times. In other areas
a high level of industrialization and urbanization has been achieved.
Yet in spite of Africa's socio-economic and political diversity
it is possible to discern certain common political, social and economic
conditions and problems. These derive from traditional past, common
aspirations, and from shared experience under imperialism, colonialism
and neocolonialism. There is no part of the continent which has
not known oppression and exploitation, and no part which remains
outside the processes of the African Revolution."
p. 9
"In Africa, where economic development is uneven, a wide variety
of highly sophisticated political systems were in existence over
many centuries before the colonial period began. It is here, in
the so-called developing world of Africa, and in Asia and Latin
America, where the class struggle and the progress towards ending
the exploitation of man by man have already entered into the stage
of decisive revolutionary change."
"The political maturity of the African masses may to some extent
be traced to economic and social patterns of traditional times.
Under communalism, for example, all lands and means of production
belong to the community. There was people's ownership. Labour was
the need and habit of all. When a certain piece of land was allocated
to an individual for his personal use, he was not free to do as
he liked with it since it still belonged to the community. Chiefs
were strictly controlled by counselors and were removable." p. 13
"Class struggle is a fundamental theme of recorded history. In
every non-socialist society there are two main categories of class,
the ruling class or classes, and the subject class or classes. The
ruling class possesses the major instruments of economic production
and distribution, and the means of establishing its political domination,
while the subject class serves the interests of the ruling class,
and is politically, economically and socially dominated by it. There
is conflict between the ruling class and the exploited class. The
nature and cause of the conflict is influenced by the development
of productive forces. That is, in any given class formation, whether
it be feudalism, capitalism, or any other type of society, the institutions
and ideas associated with it arise from the level of productive
forces and the mode of production. The moment private ownership
of the means of production appears, and capitalists start exploiting
workers the capitalists become a bourgeois class, the exploited
workers a working class. For in the final analysis, a class is nothing
more than the sum total of individuals bound together by certain
interests which as a class they try to preserve and protect." p.
17
"There is a close connection between socio-political development,
the struggle between social classes and the history of ideologies.
In general, intellectual movements closely reflect the trends of
economic developments. In communal society, where there are virtually
no class divisions, man's productive activities on outlook and culture
is less discernible. Account must be taken of the psychology of
conflicting classes." p. 23
"Each historical situation develops its own dynamics. The close
links between class and race developed in Africa alongside capitalist
exploitation. Slavery, the master-servant relationship, and cheap
labour were basic to it. The classic example is South Africa, where
Africans experience a double exploitation - both on the ground of
colour and of class. Similar conditions exist in the USA, the Caribbean,
in Latin America, and in other parts of the world where the nature
of the development of productive forces has resulted in a racists
class structure. In these areas, even shades of colour count - the
degree of blackness being a yardstick by which social status is
measured."
"While a racist social structure is not inherent in the colonial
situation, it is inseparable from capitalist economic development.
For race is inextricably linked with class exploitation; in a racist-capitalist
power structure, capitalist exploitation and race oppression are
complementary; the removal of one ensures the removal of the other."
"In the modern world, the race struggle has become a part of the
class struggle. In other words, wherever there is a race problem
it has become linked with the class struggle." p. 27
"Slavery and the master-servant relationship were therefore the
cause, rather than the result of, racism. The position was crystallized
and reinforced with the discovery of gold and diamonds in South
Africa, and the employment of cheap African labour in the mines.
As time passed, and it was thought necessary to justify the exploitation
and oppression of African workers, the myth of racial inferiority
was developed and spread."
"In the era of neocolonialism, "under-development" is still attributed
not to exploitation but to inferiority, and racial overtones remain
closely interwoven with the class struggle."
"It is only the ending of capitalism, colonialism, imperialism
and neocolonialism and the attainment of world communism that can
provide the conditions under which the race question can finally
be abolished and eliminated." p. 29