The story of Nelson Mandela is important and complex. Like most people who make a difference in the world, there is plenty about his life and work to applaud and plenty to question. Here are a number of thoughtful articles and quotes you may find helpful as you consider the amazing life and legacy of this man who managed to be a force for change and an influence toward a better world.
Nelson Mandela: Trouble Maker for Peace
by Paul Louis Metzger
Nelson Mandela brought peace to South Africa by making trouble. One cannot always make peace without conflict. Those who would shy away from conflict involving injustices are not about peace, but the status quo, for peace always entails advancing justice. Having been an advocate in his early years for non-violent resistance and then for armed struggle, Mandela became known in his later years for cultivating a culture of love rather than hate that entailed justice.
A South African Pastor Shares Why South Africans Honor Nelson Mandela
by P. J. Smyth
Adriaan Vlok (Minister of Law and Order 1986-1991) said, "When Mandela came out of prison he did not have a record of wrongs done to him because then he would have embarked on a road of revenge. What did he do? He embarked immediately on a road of forgiveness."
Mandela himself said, "If there are dreams about a beautiful South Africa, there are also roads that lead to their goal. Two of these roads could be named Goodness and Forgiveness."
Former President FW De Klerk said of Mandela, "He is par excellence a peace maker". And as we know, there is never peace without forgiveness.
by David Heim
It is a measure of Mandela’s own integrity that, having once seen no way forward except through violence, he seized the opportunity of negotiation when it finally emerged.
Nelson Mandela Brought the World toward a Racial Reconciliation
by Washington Post Editorial Board
Mr. Mandela, who died Thursday night at age 95, seemed to understand that the motivating force behind ethnic, religious and racial hatred is not only, or even primarily, self-interest; it is fear, distrust, a lack of understanding. In his person and his policies, he set out to show those on the other side that they had little to fear. He sought unity rather than revenge, honesty and understanding rather than the naked exercise of power. These are all fine abstractions, of course, but never so clear to us as when there is a living figure to exemplify them. That's why Mr. Mandela’s influence extended so far beyond South Africa and was felt by so many of the world's peoples other than Africans.
Thanks, Dave, for this collection of viewpoints. So much of the mainstream western media has already mythologized Mandela as a 'peaceful' peacemaker. I was eating dinner in Glasgow, UK when the news broke about his death. When I had flipped on the news, I distinctly remember the BBC reporter using the term "peacemaker". I immediately thought how ironic that term can be. To make peace, Mandela saw no way to defeat evil but through violence.
ReplyDeletePerhaps the 'peaceful peacemaker' myth is mainly due to the historical record fading a bit over the last 50 years since the militant MK wing of the African National Congress took matters to a new level (of violence) when peaceful measures failed against apartheid. But it is an important part of his own life that he openly embraced. He owned that part of his life straight on. During his trial in 1964 he stated, "I must deal immediately and at some length with the question of violence. Some of the things so far told to the Court are true and some are untrue. I do not, however, deny that I planned sabotage. I did not plan it in a spirit of recklessness, nor because I have any love of violence. I planned it as a result of a calm and sober assessment of the political situation that had arisen after many years of tyranny, exploitation, and oppression of my people by the Whites."
What an amazing thing to say, especially given that point in history. Despite his release from prison and democratic election to South African presidency in the early 1990's, he remained on the U.S. terrorist watch list. His name didn't come off until 2008!
That fact remains mind-blowing to many people who heard it for the first time this last week. But more importantly, people should be asking themselves why it comes as a surprise. Should it? Were his actions 50 years ago consistent with the definition of terrorism as we know it today? Yes. Does that change how we honor and feel about Mandela. Not likely. In kind, I am amazed by shock and awe over the handshake between Obama and Raul Castro. Was it mere civility between world leaders or something more. I vote for the latter...the mythologized history of Mandela often hides the fact that Mandela was close to the Castros. Why?
In 1991, Nelson Mandela traveled to Cuba to meet with then-President Fidel Castro on one of his first international trips after being freed from prison. Mandela called the Cuban Revolution "a source of inspiration to all freedom-loving people" and thanked Cuba for supporting the African National Congress at a time when it was banned in South Africa and condemned by the United States. "Who trained our people, who gave us resources, who helped so many of our soldiers, our doctors?" Mandela said to Castro.
Mind blown even more.