Mandela: a man amongst men

Once in a lifetime the world is made a better place because of vision of a single man. Nelson Mandela is such a man. “No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.” – Nelson Mandela, Long Walk To Freedom.

Throughout his career – in fact, throughout his lifetime – two themes drove Mandela’s vision: Freedom and Education. Freedom, not because he longed for it so much himself during his 27 years in prison but because – so true to himself – he wishes it for everyone. Upon his release from prison in 1990 he stunned the world with his generosity by ignoring his own imprisonment and immediately setting to work on the freedom of all; political and personal freedom. And he insisted that much of freedom can be attained though education:

- “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”

- “Education is the great engine of personal development. It is through education that the daughter of a peasant can become a doctor, that a son of a mine worker can become the head of the mine, that a child of farm workers can become the president of a great nation. It is what we make out of what we have, not what we are given, that separates one person from another.”

Can you think of anyone more qualified to talk about the quest for freedom? And the hardship to achieve it. “There is no easy walk to freedom anywhere, and many of us will have to pass through the valley of the shadow of death again and again before we reach the mountaintop of our desires.”

Keeping the promise

On failures, Mandela humbly admitted, “I have walked that long road to freedom. I have tried not to falter; I have made missteps along the way.” To which his critics are quick to point out: after all the struggles South Africa is still in the grip of crime (the most violent country outside any war zone) and poverty; hospitals are run down; 20% of the population suffer from HIV/AIDS (one-third of black women in their twenties are infected by HIV); there are now more people than ever living in slums; only 14% of blacks have high-school or higher education (65% for whites); some 80% of the stock exchange is still controlled by the same white-controlled companies that created monopolies – as John Pilger points out in A Revolution Betrayed and Honouring the ‘unbreakable promise‘ – before Mandela lead the country to free elections. Almost 90% of the country’s wealth is held by 5% of the newly-favored insiders and those mentioned white old guard. And apartheid was given a new coat in the form of affirmative action, favoring one group above another in the workplace and beyond. “Affirmative action anywhere is an injustice to workers everywhere.” I said so.

Perhaps the most disrespectful – and idiotic – of all South African failures is the disrespect for local language: their parliament – indeed, most of their politics – is conducted in English, which is only the 4th most spoken language in that country, trailing Zulu, Afrikaans and Xhosa. So much for equality. Think about Mandela’s words from his speech during his 1964 trial and which he repeated upon his release in 1990: “I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.’

Man amongst men

These failures, however, are not Mandela’s doing but those of the new “political elite” (an antonym). Mandela himself said, “I detest racialism, because I regard it as a barbaric thing, whether it comes from a black man or a white man.” Which is more than can be said of corruption-ridden South African political system. To which one cannot help but ask: Has South Africa betrayed Nelson Mandela, one of the great thinkers of our time?

Be that as it may, Madiba’s (Mandela’s clan name) vision for freedom and education – and the fairness it can bring – is now universal. Here is a remarkable man who makes other statesmen look pale in comparison. Mandela has risen above all things local to become a truly international man amongst men. It is thus apt that the UN declared July 18 an annual International Mandela Day.

Mandela quotes

“For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.”

“The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”

“It always seems impossible until its done.”