Nelson Mandel Apartheid In South Africa

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Rolihlahla “Nelson” Mandela is well known for being a courageous, compassionate, and ethical leader who ardently believed in the common good(NORTHOUSE). Born into the Madiba clan of Mvezo, Transkei on July 18, 1918 and died in Johannesburg on December 5,2013. His mother was Nonqaphi Nosekeni and his father was Nkosi Mphakanyiswa Gadla Mandela, principal counsellor to the Acting King of the Thembu people, Jongintaba. He attended primary school in Qunu where his teacher, Miss Mdingane, gave him the name Nelson. She gave him this name since she gave all of her students “Christian” names. After attending different schools, he completed his BA through the University of South Africa and went back to Fort Hare for graduation in 1943. Along with …show more content…
He met some of his fellow activists against apartheid. Apartheid is a system where non-white citizens were segregated from whites and did not have equal rights. Nelson fought against apartheid, which placed him in jail, but never left hope for all races to have equal rights in South Africa. He wanted to end it so badly because he thought of it as a ‘culturally dehumanizing force’ which makes the people adapt by becoming insulted (Zakarriya, 2015). Nelson Mandela became a leader in the African National Congress (ANC). At first he pursued a non-violent approach but then started to doubt it. In return, he started an armed branch in the ANC that would bomb certain buildings, but not the people. Consequently, he was classified as a terrorist by the government and sent to prison. He spent years in prison and was released in 1990. Overall, once he was released from prison, he continued with his efforts. Subsequently for his hard work, “Nelson Mandela and President F. W. de Klerk were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 for negotiating the country’s transition to a nonracial …show more content…
A major way he challenged the process was when he challenged the legal system because he believed it was unfair. He refused to settle for the system and was not going to accept that is was fair. Nelson Mandela knew what was right and he was going to fight for it until he fulfilled his vision. He stated, “why should I obey laws made by a parliament that I was not allowed to vote for” (Mazinter, 2015, p. 8). Therefore, he was not going to live with something he deemed unfair, when he was not allowed to vote for it. He caused chaos among the society by advocating for a mass campaign against apartheid New organizations and members emerged to risk their lives to resist the brutal system and end apartheid. The new organizations created campaigns that led to international movements, such as boycotts, bans, and an explosion of music and art. Moreover, the international movements demanded the end of apartheid and the freeing of Nelson Mandela (McClure, 2012). Therefore, Mandela continued to challenge the process because he had followers that stood up for him while he was in prison. In addition, Nelson Mandela gave people this deep, inspirational message: “if you’re afraid; it’s normal, you’re still a brave person. What you need to do next is to conquer that fear by taking action” (Barber, 2015). By saying this, he is challenging the people to

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