itself isn’t necessarily the right way to govern the American colonies. And, as he says in Observations on the Late State of the Nation, “Politics ought to be adjusted not to human reasonings but to human nature, of which reason is but a part and by no means the greatest part.”3 In other words, a politics of reason alone attends to only one part of human nature, and such a politics will go wrong by ignoring people’s sentiments, traditions, and customs.
“Let the Challenge Begin”
Examples from Wakanda might show that Burke was right. The first Black Panther film establishes that Wakanda’s monarchy is semi-hereditary, with the oldest (probably male) members of the Panther Tribe being the first in line to rule. When T’Chaka dies in Captain America: Civil War, his son, T’Challa, inherits the throne, but who gets to be king is not decided merely by inheritance. Before T’Challa officially takes the throne, all of Wakanda’s tribes come together and have the chance to offer up a challenger for the throne. Any challengers must fight the presumptive king in ritual combat in order to earn the right to rule.
People from the industrialized West might look at this traditional way of transmitting power and say that it is irrational. Those who favor meritocracy or republicanism might say that being the son of a king does not give a man the right to rule. Moralists might object to the idea that mere physical strength makes a man fit to govern, saying that his moral character is far more important. Feminists might argue that patriarchy is poisonous for society and that Wakanda needs more women in power. Classical liberals would question the very idea of having a king at all, saying that monarchy itself is unjust and dangerous.
While each of these criticisms might have its merits, Burke would probably say that we make a mistake if we seek to throw out the “old ways” of Wakanda and create new ones built on reason alone. So if revolutionaries with aspirations to abstract ideas like liberty and equality suddenly seized power and abolished the Wakandan monarchy, the result wouldn’t necessarily be good. Even though they might seem irrational to outsiders like us, anyone can see from the Challenge Day scene in Black Panther that Wakanda’s traditions provide social cohesion that a purely rational system cannot possibly create. The reverence that the Wakandans have for their traditions tempers old tribal tensions and petty rivalries that might otherwise develop into social dysfunction or erupt into civil war. Dispensing with the traditions in one fell swoop would result in anything but liberty or equality.
We can see this most clearly when M’Baku arrives with representatives from the Jabari Tribe in order to challenge T’Challa for the throne. The people have gathered at the waterfall to witness their king’s coronation, members of each tribe dressed in their ceremonial finery to honor the solemnity of the event. Shuri, T’Challa’s brilliant but unorthodox sister, complains about her corset and asks if they can “wrap it up and go home.” Though she does not completely disregard the customs involved in the coronation, she does show a youthful irreverence that some might find scandalous. When M’Baku arrives with his men to challenge T’Challa, he complains that Wakanda’s “technological advancements have been overseen by a child … who scoffs at tradition!”
This scene sets up audiences to view M’Baku as one of the film’s antagonists (especially those of us who have read the comics). We might see Shuri as a representative of scientific and social progress and M’Baku as a remnant of an antiquated devotion to custom. But first appearances can be deceiving. Indeed, it is M’Baku’s reverence for tradition that allows for the peaceful transfer of power. When T’Challa defeats him in ritual combat, M’Baku yields and abandons his bid for the throne. A man with less reverence for tradition might use whatever means necessary to acquire power, starting a civil war.
In a paradoxical way, M’Baku’s commitment to the Challenge Day tradition with its underlying might-makes-right assumption could very well protect society from being subjected to something far more irrational. The ritual probably developed as a way to settle disputes between tribes that would cause open warfare and the domination of some tribes by others. By formalizing humanity’s old might-makes-right instinct, the Challenge Day ceremony turns it into a ritual that allows for the freedom and dignity of each tribe.
That doesn’t mean that the traditions surrounding the transfer of power in Wakanda can’t or shouldn’t change, of course. But Burke would argue that any change ought to happen organically and slowly. It would be perilous to suddenly abolish the tradition and replace it with a more “rational” means of transferring power.
“Burn It All”
One of the functions that tradition can serve in a society is as a guard against absolute and arbitrary power. In Britain during Burke’s time, for example, the monarchy had a lot of power, but it didn’t rule unchecked. The political and social traditions that had built up in England over centuries helped to balance the power of the monarch against the power of Parliament and against what Burke called the “entailed inheritance”4 of the people’s rights and liberties. The monarch might have had more power than a farmer, but the fact that both the king and the farmer lived within the same tradition meant that the farmer enjoyed liberties that he wouldn’t have under a capricious ruler. It meant that the king didn’t have arbitrary and unrestrained power.
We see this kind of tradition at work in Wakanda, as well. The coronation ceremony, for example, helps to instill humility in the king, reminding him that he is responsible to the tribes for his actions. In fact, the Challenge Day ritual suggests that though Wakanda’s monarchy is inherited, the king also serves by consent of the people. We see this in the fact that T’Challa must have the strength of the Black Panther stripped from his body before he can engage in ritual combat with a challenger to the throne. This levels the playing field and makes it possible for a challenger to actually succeed. Though it is probably not written in law, this custom protects the people from the whims of capricious and arbitrary rulers.
From his first appearance in Wakanda, Killmonger shows that he does not care about the traditions that guarantee order and liberty in the nation that he wants to rule. This is why his brief time in power causes so much harm and threatens to destroy the very fabric of Wakandan society. He says that he wants to use Wakanda’s vibranium and weapons to “liberate” the billions of people around the world who are of African descent, letting Wakanda serve as “judge, jury, and executioner” for oppressive people in other places. Moreover, he clearly has no interest in the customs that guarantee a peaceful, orderly, and fair transfer of power. When the leader of the River Tribe says that “it will take weeks” to arrange a new challenge, Killmonger says, “Weeks? I don’t need weeks. The whole country ain’t gotta be there.” In other words, he isn’t interested in the tribes having their say in the rule of Wakanda; he only wants the power to do what he believes is right – for everyone in the world.
Perhaps his worst offense against Wakanda’s traditions comes just after he has consumed the Heart-Shaped Herb and gained the strength of the Black Panther. One of the women who attend him during the process says that they preserve the garden of the Herb “so that when it comes time for another king, we will be ready.” Killmonger scoffs and says, “Another king? Yeah, go ahead and burn all that.” The woman appeals to tradition, saying that she cannot burn the Herb, and Killmonger viciously grabs her by the throat, lifting her from the ground: “When I tell you to do something, I mean that shit.” In other words, he is limited by no custom, tradition, or sentiment. His power is unchecked and arbitrary.
It’s hard to tell whether Killmonger doesn’t see the likely results of destroying the Heart-Shaped Herb or if he simply doesn’t care. But it is clear that the consequences won’t be good. Even though Wakanda is protected by the Border Tribe and by its advanced technology, its primary defender is the Black Panther, whose strength comes solely from the Herb. Unless some new source of the Herb is found before T’Challa dies, he will be the last of the Black Panthers. Worse, the destruction
