From Lynne
McTaggart, a mind/heart expanding story of South Africa:
'During his sixty-three trips to South Africa in the 1980s,
Beck, a former professor of social psychology at University of North Texas,
became known as a bridge builder between the country’s black and white
populations; as a consequence, he played a behind-the-scenes role in helping to
smooth the country’s transition from apartheid to democracy.
In his dealings with the business community, he began to realize
that many of the pro-apartheid Afrikaners, the dominant white group, were
unable to differentiate between various black tribes, while members of the
African National Congress, the party led by Nelson Mandela, also had difficulty
distinguishing between different types of Afrikaners.
Beck began delivering presentations all over South Africa to
educate whites and blacks in the fine distinctions between the many different
Zulu tribes and white groups.
“I was able to break up,” he says, “the definitional systems
that fueled prejudice.”
It was Beck who first came up with the idea of using South
Africa’s entry into the World Cup rugby play-offs in 1995, depicted in the film
Invictus, as a means of creating nation-building euphoria, in order to unify a
country emerging from apartheid. Beck had a special fascination with the
psychology of premier-league games, and through his experiences working with
the Dallas Cowboys and the New Orleans Saints, he had developed a belief in the
power of sports as a peacemaker.
This was a bold idea, given that the Springboks, the South
African rugby team, were the very symbol of apartheid. Rugby was considered a
white man’s sport. Virtually all players were Afrikaners, the white
pro-apartheid minority; rugby coaches even shouted out plays in Afrikaans.
English-speaking or black players seldom made the team, and consequently, the black
population in South Africa actively boycotted the sport.
In 1995, Beck presented Kitch Christie, the Springboks coach, with a paper
entitled Six Games to Glory, which detailed a series of psychological
strategies that would help transform the team from underdog to world-class
contender in the games leading up to the World Cup. Besides the strategies for
winning the game, Beck’s paper included ways that the Springboks could stand as
a focal point of pride for the fledgling country and connect the township
blacks with the Afrikaners.
He suggested that the Springboks adopt a collaborative or common
identity — the green and gold colors of the team shirts, and a sports crowd
song, with a Zulu drum to lead the team and arouse the crowd.
Beck arranged for the team to visit Mandela’s tiny prison cell
at Robben Island, in order to emphasize their larger role in their country’s
destiny. Above all, his exercises were to help develop a sense that each member
of the team faced a life-defining moment requiring that they pull together as
one.
As the games progressed, Beck’s superordinate goal began to
infect the country; young blacks from the township tore down anti-rugby signs
and hung photos of their Springbok heroes. During the World Cup, which the
Springboks went on to win, Mandela was persuaded to appear in a Springbok green
and gold shirt — the colors that had always symbolized his oppressors — as a
tangible sign of unity and forgiveness.
To Beck, creating a superordinate goal is one of the best ways
to achieve peace in areas of political conflict. In his work, Beck often meets
with both sides in an area of conflict and shows them a positive vision of
future possibility, but one that requires that both sides work together and use
their common geography and resources to create a solution for all who live
there.'
To read more click, 'A Zulu drum'
Covey Cowan, San Francisco, California
