Nelson Mandela (1995) writes, “No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion.” Although, Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years, he spent his entire lifetime redeeming the freedom of the South African black and colored society from facing misery set by the government. However, after Mandela was freed from prison, he became South Africa’s first president whom all could vote for. Mandela was one of the greatest political rulers of our time, and he was a global hero who devoted to fight against racial injustice in South Africa. Moreover, many viewers claim that Nelson Mandela is a hero for today, yet some critics disagree with that common choice, arguing that he is a terrorist.
First of all, being a hero of today’s society is honored by the people of the nation, for dedicating their lives to the nation. A hero is an individual who risks his life on the line by helping others. In other words, Nelson Mandela has stood up against apartheid and fought for multi-racial democracy. In “Nelson Mandela: A Twentieth Century Hero”, Fred Bridgland (2013) writes that Nelson Mandela had one issue that made him worry about when he was imprisoned, because it the mistaken image that he accidently set out for the world of being observed as a saint. Shilan Shah, an African analyst for Capital Economics, in a research note states that “Under the leadership of Mr. Mandela, South Africa had improved the general quality of its institutions, which had made a great impact on the economy.” (Young, 2013) In short, a hero for today’s society is measured by their bravery, courage, and their other heroic acts.
Second of all, a hero must qualify bravery within himself. In other words, a hero must ...
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... . Retrieved from http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-12-06/benson-vale-nelson-mandela-a-man-of-heroic-compromise/4776674
Bridgland, F. (2013). Nelson mandela: A twentieth century hero. Unpublished raw data, . Retrieved from http://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/top-stories/nelson-mandela-a-twentieth-century-hero-1-3224049
Young, A. (2013). Four things nelson ‘madiba’ mandela did that helped revive the south africa economy, which had been battered by apartheid sanctions. Unpublished raw data, . Retrieved from http://www.ibtimes.com/four-things-nelson-madiba-mandela-did-helped-revive-south-africa-economy-which-had-been-battered
Beinart, P. (2013). Don’t sanitize nelson mandela: He’s honored now, but was hated then. Unpublished raw data, . Retrieved from http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/12/05/don-t-sanitize-nelson-mandela-he-s-honored-now-but-was-hated-then.html
Throughout his 95 years of living, Nelson Mandela earned the title of many things: global peacemaker, civil rights activist, writer, president, politician, philanthropist, and many more. As an active member of the anti-apartheid movement in 1942, Mandela was known for peaceful and non-violent protests against South Africa's government and their policy of Apartheid, a system of racial segregation. After 20 years of these attempts, realizing non-violence was not working to put an end to apartheid, Mandela moved on to armed struggle. The African National Congress was made illegal and Mandela was put in prison for 27 years for political offenses; sabotage and guerrilla war tactics, after coordinating a workers' strike. 18 of those 27 years in prison
Nelson Mandela has just gotten out of prison and is speaking to a rally of ANC supporters in Cape Town urging a continued struggle for racial equality and a government not dominated by any one race, black or white. Mandela is using the built up passion and anger from years of oppression to instill a resolve in the ANC members and others who are fighting for equality in South Africa. Calm Logic Despite his time in prison, Nelson Mandela was very calm and forgiving about his time there. He opens his speech with “I greet you all in the name of peace, democracy and freedom for all.”
How my partner and I chose Apartheid in South Africa as our topic is when our National History Day teacher, Mr. Peterson had us look into what Nelson Mandela did that affected the people of South Africa. Originally we had Nelson Mandela as our topic. Later into this paper you will see how exactly we got our topic. My partner and I debated over two topics and we chose Nelson Mandela. We ended up writing a semi biography instead of a topic for out theme. Our National History teacher, Mr. Peterson had us go deeper to find a topic that would have been reliable. That's how we ended up finding apartheid in South Africa.
Nelson Mandela, a previous and significant South African president, is an example of an individual who embodies heroic traits. His efforts to fight apartheid ended an era of racism and hate. In a country where little would speak out against apartheid, courage becomes a
Nelson Mandela, from prisoner to liberation figure to party leader, never wavered in his devotion to democracy, equality and learning! Mandela’s eventual support for peaceful co-existence with whites, never answered racism with racism, which earned him the respect of the world in the 20th century. His simple principles of political agitation, healing the wounds of hate, bringing about national unification and becoming the symbol of the oppressed people all over the world are some of his noble legacies to the world and will always be remembered for his remarkable journey of hardship, struggle and then
Nelson Mandela was a revolutionary that stood up against the apartheid, or racist, government. Mandela played the biggest role in the movement to overthrow the South African government. He led many protests and was thrown in prison for trying to overthrow the office. After all of Mandela’s hard work, he successfully overthrew the apartheid government and turned it around into a good, democratic government. Mandela later became South Africa’s first president in elections which all people could vote. Nelson Mandela had a great effect on his country as he took a stand and tried to overthrow the apartheid government and turn it into a democratic, non-racist country.
Barack Obama has made no secret that over the past three decades Nelson Mandela has been the greatest influence in his life. Coming from an African ancestry, Obama drew inspiration from Mandela’s life and influenced Obama to take himself upon a journey of self-discovery and find his own voice (Obama, 2004). The repercussions of Mandela’s inspirational work caused Obama to become a part of an anti-apartheid divestment movement in college and to shift to focusing on law and politics (Epstein, 2013). Now that Barack Obama has become President of the United States of America, he has consistently quoted Mandela in all his keynote speeches speaking of freedom and equality and his actions and words are inspired by the desire to emulate Mandela’s powerful actions and movements and the examples that he set, in the 21st century (Killough, 2013). Even within the tribute to Mandela, Obama (2013) says “You can make his life’s work your own…It stirred something ...
Nelson Mandela was one of the most beloved and inspiring men in the world. He led a long and interesting life, and for much of it he was wrongly imprisoned. He fought endlessly for the rights of his people, and his journey is actually very similar to another civil rights activist from the United States: Martin Luther King Jr. However, while Martin Luther King Jr. is very well known, Mandela doesn’t get quite as much recognition, especially in the United States. This essay puts forward the notion that, as Nelson Mandela was one of the most powerful and influential men in the world, he deserves the same level of recognition that Martin Luther King Jr. gets. This essay will explore his early life, imprisonment,
Web. 18 Dec. 2013. . Nelson Mandela Foundation. " Biography - Nelson Mandela."
1. Thesis: Nelson Mandela’s courage brought justice to his country and greatly improved South Africa overall.
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, born on July 18, 1918 at the Mvesto in Transkei, South Africa, was a civil right activist, world leader and a writer. He became very involved in the anti-apartheid movement (“Nelson Mandela Biography”). Apartheid is a policy or system of segregation or discrimination on grounds of race. Mandela is best known for becoming the first black president of South Africa from 1994 until 1999 (“Nelson Mandela Biography”). Nelson Mandela had a very positive influence, not only on his homeland country of South Africa, but also around the whole entire world.
When I think of a hero I immediately think of someone who is strong, intelligent, handsome, and daring. Upon closer examination, many different qualities than these become apparent. Courage, honesty, bravery, selflessness, and the will to try are just a few of the overlooked qualities of a hero. The definition of heroism changes with the context and time. Heroes of the past are not necessarily heroes of present time and vise versa.
In 1994, Nelson Mandela was elected to the highest office of the land. Faced with issues like an economic crisis and racial tensions, Mandela inherited a difficult set of problems. While Mandela’s new position had allocated legitimate power, “influence that is created through a title or status”, due to the severity of the issues, Mandela needed new means of acquiring power, “the ability to influence how others behave,” to garnish unified support throughout the country (P. 329). Mandela understood that to achieve this he would have to adopt various techniques to provide leadership, “a process of influence aimed at directing behavior toward the accomplishment of objectives” (P.326).
“Nelson Mandela was the symbol of justice, equality, and dignity.” (Obama, 2013). He was born in Mveso, Transkei, South Africa on July 18, 1998 as a Madiba clan (Les Prix Nobel, 1993). Since he was young, he always dreamt to be able to contribute to create a free and democratic country where everyone could live in harmony. He started his anti-apartheid movement by joining the African National Congress (ANC) when he was 20 (Cachalia, 2013). He was first banned in 1952, and was finally arrested on 5 December 1995 due to his “radical activity” in the ANC (Nelson Mandela Biography, 2014). He actively directed many peaceful campaigns to raise the apartheid issue. He wanted to put an end to racist, unrespectable policies. In 1962, he even left South Africa secretly in order to seek support for his struggle in battling for freedom (Les Prix Nobel, 1993). This unexpected move caused him to be arrested once again. One year later, after the police found some documents and evidences about his sabotage in the ANC, he and his comrades must accept the fact that they might be sentenced to death. However, the court finally decided to sentence them for life imprisonment (Nelson Mandela Biography, 2014).
Was Nelson Mandela considered a hero to South Africa? He displays his heroic characteristics as being very wise, a brave leader and highly respected and loved nationally. People think of Nelson Mandela as the South African version of Martin Luther King Jr. This is correct. He is known for bringing peace to South Africa, which was racially segregated and believed in participating in human rights globally. No one was ever as brave and confident as Nelson Mandela was. It is not easy changing a world for the better without the chaos and difficulties, but Mr. Mandela did it because of his strong belief in his country, which was a slowly degrading country at the time.