“AN IDEAL FOR WHICH I AM PREPARED TO DIE”
Nelson Mandela was a civil rights
leader in South
Africa. He fought against apartheid,
a system where non-white citizens were segregated from whites and did not have
equal rights. He served a good portion of his life in prison for his protests,
but became a symbol for his people. Later he would become president of South
Africa.
Nelson Mandela became a leader in the African National
Congress (ANC). At first he pushed hard for the congress and the protesters to
follow Mohandas Gandhi's non-violence approach. At one point he started to
doubt that this approach would work and started up an armed branch of the ANC.
He planned to bomb certain buildings, but only the buildings. He wanted to make
sure than no one would be hurt. He was classified as a terrorist by the South
African government and sent to prison.
Mandela would spend the next 27 years in prison. His prison sentence brought international visibility to the anti-apartheid movement. He was finally released through international pressure in 1990.
Once released from prison, Mandela continued his campaign to end apartheid. His hard work and life long effort paid off when all races were allowed to vote in the 1994 election. Nelson Mandela won the election and became president of South Africa. There were several times during the process where violence threatened to break out. Mandela was a strong force in keeping the calm and preventing a major civil war.
Mandela would spend the next 27 years in prison. His prison sentence brought international visibility to the anti-apartheid movement. He was finally released through international pressure in 1990.
Once released from prison, Mandela continued his campaign to end apartheid. His hard work and life long effort paid off when all races were allowed to vote in the 1994 election. Nelson Mandela won the election and became president of South Africa. There were several times during the process where violence threatened to break out. Mandela was a strong force in keeping the calm and preventing a major civil war.
QUESTIONS
1. What is apartheid?
2. Why was Mandela sent to prison?
3. Why did Mandela change plans and
create a group of armed protesters?
4. How did Mandela’s time in prison
affect apartheid?
Do you think his prison term was helpful to the people of
Africa? Why or why not?
5. What important event happened in 1994
in South Africa?
“AN IDEAL FOR WHICH I AM PREPARED TO DIE” Part 2
The lack of
human respect experienced by Africans is the direct result of the policy of
white supremacy (the condition of being better than others). White supremacy suggests black inferiority
(the condition of being less than others).
Laws designed to preserve white supremacy make it difficult to change
this idea. Menial tasks in South Africa
are always performed by Africans…
Above all,
we want equal political rights, because without them our disabilities will be
permanent. I know this sounds
revolutionary (like the blacks are trying to take over) to the whites in this
country, because the majority of voters will be Africans. This makes the white man fear democracy. But this fear cannot be allowed to stand in
the way of the only solution which will guarantee racial harmony (peace) and
freedom for all…
This then is
what the ANC is fighting…It is a struggle for the right to live. During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to
this struggle of the African people. I
have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black
domination. I have cherished (dreamed of
) 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.
QUESTIONS Part 2
6. Based on
it’s context, what do you think menial means
in the first paragraph?
Why would
such tasks be performed by black South Africans?
7. What “makes
the white man fear democracy” in Mandela’s view?
8. In
paragraph four, in what way does “to live” mean more than just being alive?
9. Why do
you think Mandela insisted that he has “fought against black
domination”?
10. What is
an ideal? (Hint: not IDEA)
What can be
accomplished by dying for an ideal?
"Think about it"
What ideals do you have that you would be
“prepared to die” for?
