One imagines that instead of life in a South African prison, Nelson Mandela had lived in America, or in a black independent Caribbean country and blossomed as an attorney and teacher.
And he surely would have been a political leader but a minor one who played by the rules when it seemed to many that Southern Africa under white rule needed a Robert Mugabe, a Jomo Kenyatta, and yes, a George Washington (also once deemed a terrorist), for politically exploited and oppressed peoples to do what Americans did in 1776 to end British rule.
But like Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr., Mandela was a peaceful man, and peaceful men tend to really do little than negotiate minor social reforms.
South Africa’s present high black crime, racial economic inequality and political corruption that he could not overcome tempts one to believe that he never ought to have been elected President, for he was only a symbol used especially by white racists fearful of the alternatives like Robert Mugabe. But most supporters of black rule, diametrically opposed to the commenters here condemning Mandela as a terrorist, have conceded that he was all that stood between peaceful transition to black rule without a racial war.
That South African blacks and whites are not at each other’s throats today against all expectations is because of Mandela, for whom most people are and ought to be thankful beyond measure.
Thanks for this review. It reminds me of other writings such as The Man Died: Prison Notes of Wole Soyinka and Martin Luther King Jr.'s Letters from a Birmingham Jail.
It doesn't surprise me that Nelson Mandela wrote eloquently despite imprisonment. His life and his courage will always be an inspiration to so many people.... I look forward to reading this book....
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Hero? He was a terrorist who was rightfully imprisoned for being a terrorist.
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I love the last two paragraphs of this. Mandela was the change he wanted to see in the world.
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Nelson Mandela stands alone at the pinnacle of achievement in that he stayed true to his code of honor for decades as he was imprisoned for seeking equality and freedom for native Africans. I am so comforted by reading his letters from prison. He never lost hope.
(Note that I was born in 1944 in Bessemer, AL.) Segregation and George Wallace were the code in Alabama. Education nurtured my enlightenment. Martin Luther King touched my heart in a similar way to Mandela.
These letters are such a treasure. Mandela was a genuine leadership role model. It is my hope that they will be read by our lawmakers. Caucasians of the USA are oppressing other races, especially our Native Americans. Immigrants should be welcomed and assisted.
Barak Obama has similar characteristics of character and integrity.
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Maybe we should emulate the corruption of the ANC as well! Perhaps we should “re-possess” the current property of all post-colonial Americans and give it back to the Native Americans!
Let’s see how that flies with the “settlers” who call this land the “United States”.
Good Idea Paul! Look at the mess we have been making!