How Far Has the Importance of Nelson Mandela in the Ending of Apartheid Been Exaggerated?

In the 1960s, many of the colonial nations of Africa were gaining independence. The ANC was encouraged and campaigned for democracy in South Africa. They were mild campaigns at first, but as the government became more hostile, so did ANC protests. In November 1961, a military branch of the party was organized with Mandela as its head. It authorized the limited use of arms and sabotage against the government, which got the government’s attention—and its anger! Mandela went into hiding in 1964, he was captured, tried, and sentenced to life imprisonment. It was a sad day for black South Africa.

Mandela once said, “A man who takes away another man’s freedom is a prisoner of hatred, he is locked behind the bars of prejudice and narrow-mindedness.” (Page 32). This quote is an accurate description of all the people who supported the apartheid in South Africa starting when the National Party was elected in 1948. Knowing why this happened and what brought the apartheid to an end is vital to not making the same detrimental mistake again. Apartheid came to an end because of internal unrest, external pressure, and great leaders.

“To deny people their right to human rights is to challenge their very humanity. To impose on them a wretched life of hunger and deprivation is to dehumanize them. But such has been the terrible fate of all black persons in our country under the system of apartheid (“In Nelson Mandela’s own words”). Nelson Mandela was a moral compass symbolizing the struggle against racial oppression. Nelson Mandela emerged from prison after twenty-seven years to lead his country to justice. For twenty-seven years he sat in a cell because he believed in a country without apartheid, a country with freedom and human rights. He fought for a country where all people were equal, treated with respect and given equal opportunity. Nelson Mandela looms large in the

The Sharpeville Massacre took place in a south african police station of Sharpeville. On March 21, 1960. During this event 5,000 to 7,000 protesters went to the police station after a day of demonstrations, offering themselves for arrest for not carrying passbooks. The mood of the protest had started out as peaceful and festive when there were only few people present but as the day went on about 20,00 came and the mood had turned “ugly”. There were casualties which was 69 people dead and 180 injured. This was caused by a chain reaction of gun

The story depicted by the movie Invictus is just a glimpse at the many hearts that he touched through his transformational leadership approach proved to be a success in the accomplishment of his end goal of equal diversity amongst the citizens of South Africa. Mandela experienced a great amount of satisfaction from his role in changing the government’s environment and finding peace for

Specific Purpose: To inform my communication studies 192 with a general understanding of the life and outstanding impact that Nelson Mandela has left on the world.

The life story of Nelson Mandela has long become a legend, a story that transcends race, borders, culture, or language. He is one of the greatest leaders to ever step foot on this Earth. He was willing to give up his own personal freedoms for the good of his people. Still, his decisions at major points in his lifetime hold lessons for individuals who are inspired of becoming good leaders. Many leaders are inspired by the actions and decision-makings abilities of Mandela. He kept the interest of others before his own. This is what made Nelson Mandela a great leader, and worthy of winning a Nobel Prize. From the decisions he made, and his life experiences while fighting for human rights, one can conclude that Mandela is truly

December 5th, 1955, Mandela and hundreds of others were arrested while peacefully protesting, this marked the beginning of the Treason Trial, which only ended when the last twenty-eight people were declared innocent. Afterwards, on March 21st, 1960, sixty-nine peaceful protesters were killed by police in Sharpeville; consequently, this led to the banning of the African National Congress (Biography). After the banning of the congress, Mandela insisted that they created a military unit within the African National Congress. The congress contemplated Mandela’s notion and allowed those who wanted to, to join Mandela, this led to the establishment of a

For years, South Africa’s Afrikaner Nationalist Party was conducting all types of racial attacks that were raising ethical issues. Along with the South African government, they reshaped racial laws and regulations, continuing with violence against blacks. Nonwhites outnumbered whites by about 5 to 1. Violence consisted of the Sharpeville massacre, the Soweto Street death demonstration, and the death of black leader who was in police custody. Through such acts, South Africa’s direct investment rose dramatically.

    Nelson Mandela was a great leader of South Africa. Nelson Rolihlahla  Mandela was born in South Africa on July 18, 1918. He was an anti-apartheid revolutionary, political leader, and philanthropist, who was the first black and democratically elected President. Before Mandela was elected president, South Africa was a country with a white supremacist government, ruled by apartheid. There were racial tensions between whites and blacks, both races hated each other. Blacks were uneducated and most of them were poor and had little food. Nelson Mandela had a positive impact towards South Africa because he ended apartheid, unified South Africa and helped those less

The long-term impact that Mandela made was that he had ended apartheid in South Africa in 1991, which meant that the non-whites could live with equal rights and freedoms with happiness. He had many other great qualities such as encouraging his followers to nonviolent acts of protest. He has impacted the whole world in terms of discrimination and racism. Due to Mandela a lot of other people were inspired to do great things and end acts of racism around the world. His sphere of influence was not just South Africa or Africa because he had become so famous he started to influence many people. And he was not the kind to give up because even after spending 27 years of prison he did not lose hope, he stood in the elections, became president and fulfilled his goal of ending apartheid.

One large problem that occurred because of apartheid and was the cause of many protests was from 1961-1994, 3.5 million colored people and their families were forced out of their homes while their property was sold for very low prices to white farmers. This was just one example of events that were completely unfair to the colored population. Nelson Mandela was the person who stopped these acts from happening. In 1994, Mandela became the country’s first colored president. Instead of trying to make the people who put him into jail for 27 years suffer in consequences, he embraced them and used peace to unite everyone as equals, and not oppressing the people who had oppressed him for most of his life. Apartheid was a very rough time for anyone who lived in South Africa before Nelson Mandela and his peace helped to stop it.

Nelson Mandela was the man who abolished Apartheid, freeing South Africa from the binds of racial segregation forever. However, it was not an easy road and Mandela needed patience, strength of character, focus, passion, understanding, perseverance, and most importantly, forgiveness, to achieve this. For more than forty years, black South Africans were subject to the harsh racial segregation of the Apartheid system; despite making up over 70% of South Africa’s population, they had little to no rights.

Imagine being systematically oppressed from the moment you exited the womb. All your civil rights, based on the amount of melanin in your skin. Drinking from the wrong water fountain, could even get you thrown into jail. Coincidently; this was the life, of black South Africans from the moment of Dutch colonization in 1652, to the first true democratic election in 1994. Apartheid, meaning “separateness” in Afrikaans; was legal segregation enforced by The National Party (NP) from 1948 to 1994. It legally imposed preexisting policies of racial discrimination on the Majority of the South African population. The entire basis of the racist policies, was the darker your complexion the less legal rights you had. Presumably this injustice, could have continued much longer if it weren’t for all involved in the fight against the NP, however the man who arguably contributed the most, was Nelson Mandela. He ended an apartheid, with both his philanthropy and political prowess. He united a nation that used to be segregated; which seemed a daunting task at the time, but through the sweat and bloodshed he achieved the impossible. This alone exhibited his heroic characteristics, but to be more precise: both his actions and inactions lead to his success. Furthermore, Mandela was both a strong leader and forgiving at the same-time. Being in the forefront of the abolishment movement, was an extremely risky move during the apartheid. He risked his life for what he believed in, and this personal

The day he died brought the whole world to a stand still which signifies the power and the effect that this man had on the world. I will be discussing a few media institutes reflecting their findings and presenting it to the public. The first media source I researched was CNN World, the headline reads “ Nelson Mandela, anti-apartheid icon and father of South Africa, dies.” This headline has summed him up reflecting the person he was and the power he held in the worlds eyes. CNN highlight the facts that he was a freedom fighter, prisoner and a moral compass to his own people and the world. After spending 27 years in prison he forgave the white government that imprisoned him and negotiated peace, leaving behind his bitterness and hatred, this approach inspired the world that apartheid was a thing of the past. CNN analyses Mandela's life to be positive in all areas beneficial to the country and the world. It touched on Nelson being considered as a hero to all races, a father figure and a global ambassador. His influence stopped a civil war in 1994 which could have been the bloodiest war on racial grounds. CNN highlighted that the nation was on edge as his last appearance in public was at the 2010 World Cup in SA and from then became frequently hospitalised, presenting Zuma to step in each time he felt sick. CNN captured Mandela's full life in stages of significance, reflecting a positive outlook in the hero that he was and a down to earth normal person with imperfections