Scientology's Bantus

In the 1988 edition of E-Meter Essentials, the term "black South African" was substituted for "Bantu" that appeared in earlier editions. Under the apartheid government's Population Registration Act (No. 30) of 1950, South Africans were separated into different "races":

  1. White
  2. Colored (mixed descent)
  3. Native or Bantu
  4. Asian (added in 1959)

"Bantu" was the term used by the government to lump together all indigenous South Africans, without regard to their cultural identity. The term was originally used by anthropologists and linguists to describe the languages of the black Africans as distinct from the click languages of the San (also known as "Bushmen"). Thus, "Bantu" is not an ethnic identification but a linguistic [offsite] one. To illustrate: the ethnic groups Xhosa (Nelson Mandela, e.g.,) and Zulu (Mangosuthu Buthelezi, e.g.) are both Bantu-speaking peoples with different cultural histories. Over 100 million people in central, east, and southern Africa speak a Bantu language.

The removal of "Bantu" from later editions of E-Meter Essentials suggests that the Church may recognize the racist nature of some of its texts. However, the underlying sentiment—that black South Africans are somehow different than others and therefore require treatment as "meter oddities"—remains unchanged.

Note: See Secrets of Scientology: The E-Meter [offsite] for further information.

The following excerpt is taken from page 23 of the 1961 edition of E-Meter Essentials by L. Ron Hubbard.

"The Scientology religion is based exclusively upon L. Ron Hubbard's research, writings and recorded lectures —
all of which constitute the Scriptures of the religion"

I. METER ODDITIES

1. There are few exceptions to the rule with E-Meters. They are a study composed of facts which have right or wrong answers and the answers to E-Meter questions are, all in black and white.

2. These are the known exceptions:

3. Some people (a very few in very bad shape) get a rise when they are asked to squeeze the cans. This is a reverse action. It means nothing except they need to be started in low levels.

4. Some preclears [glossary], in very bad shape, rock slam [glossary] when security checked [glossary] and one can't find what is rock slamming. As nothing clears the slam, they have to be flunked, audited, and tried again.

5. In South Africa a Bantu's withholds [glossary] read not on the needle alone but on the Tone Arm [glossary] as well. The Tone Arm goes up as much as two divisions (3 to 5) just before you get off a bad withhold on one.

6. High Tone Arms on anyone (or very low) mean lots of withholds — but they might not be conscious of them all at once. They come off session by session as we run along. …