South Africa’s Delayed Justice on Steve Biko’s Death Exposes Global Lessons for America

As South Africa finally opens a new inquest into the 1977 death of anti-apartheid leader Steve Biko, nearly five decades after he died in police custody under suspicious conditions, we see a stark warning about what happens when governments evade responsibility and ignore the rule of law.How Long Will Justice Remain Elusive?Biko was a champion of freedom and dignity through the Black Consciousness Movement, opposing a brutal regime that institutionalized racial oppression. Arrested, tortured, shackled naked in police custody, and ultimately dying from brain injuries and kidney failure—which were initially concealed by an official inquest widely dismissed as a cover-up—his...