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History grade 12 civil rights movement
Civil rights movement in the usa
The philosophy and ideology of Nelson Mandela
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In his statement from the dock opening of the defense case in the Rivonia Trial, “I am prepared to die,” Nelson Mandela, a nonviolent anti-apartheid activist, politician and philanthropist who became the first black president in South Africa from 1994 to 1999, argues that Africans want to live in a “democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities.” He claims that Africans are treated with a “lack of human dignity” and are considered a “separate breed” than white men, and that the Africans are not getting a lot of the things that they deserve. Mandela supports this claim by first stating that Africans are not looked upon as equals, but as separate than white people. He explains that Africans …show more content…
This logical appeal effectively convinces white people that African people are not treated nearly as well as them, and African people are reminded of how unfairly and unjustly they are treated. Throughout a large part of the statement, Mandela uses the phrase “Africans want… and not” many times consecutively; also known as repetition. Because he had used this phrase so many times, Mandela was able to clearly establish to his audience what points he wanted to get across. With these phrases, Mandela states many of the wishes and hopes of African people by expressing how “Africans want” many things that they do not receive as a people. He also tells of the things that Africans are given instead of the things that they deserve as a human right. For example, one of the lines in Mandela's statement reads “Africans want to perform work which they are capable of doing, and not work which the government declares them to be capable of.” This quote and many others like it explain how Africans are looked down upon and not given the rights and respect that they deserve. Instead of being given rights such as those whites have, Africans are treated as though they are inferior to whites. Mandela does an excellent job using this repetition in order to convince the audience logically that Africans are not treated as
Martin Luther King Jr’s most compelling point was that every person has the same rights
In a world that is hungry for heroes and leaders to rise and speak up for the weak, there will only be a few people who will step up and take on that role. Nelson Mandela’s autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom, is an Alan Paton Award winning book that speaks of the struggles of an influential leader who faced adversity in the early 1900’s, while trying to gain freedom from his own demons and for the African people whose voice had been oppressed by their government. The idea expressed throughout the Mandela’s work is that the struggle for freedom is never over. Thus, freedom is not only for the oppressed, but for the oppressors too, and to achieve this, one must take a long walk to freedom just as Nelson Mandela did for his people and South Africa.
By stating, “racism itself is dreadful, but when it pretends to be legal, and therefore just, when a man like Nelson Mandela is imprisoned, it becomes even more repugnant” and “one cannot help but assign the two systems, in their supposed legality, to the same camp” (Wiesel, p.1), the Holocaust survivor is creating solidarity within two separate decades that are connected by the government’s tyranny. The rationale behind constructing a system of unity is to ensure the lives of the oppressed, regardless of their personal beliefs and cultures. Mandela is not affiliated with the Holocaust, nor is he a Jew – rather the former President of South Africa who stood up against anti-black movements – but he is still bound by a common
On August 28, 1963, the legendary Martin Luther King Jr. gave his empowering speech, demanding equality among the African American and white race, and the injustices that have proved the conditions unequal between the two races. In his speech, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. uses many rhetorical devices to convey the idea that whites have brutally mistreated blacks for hundreds of years, even though, as a group, they have paved the nation, laying the foreground of the United States.
As Mandela grew more aware of the world, he begins to see the bigger picture. An entire country that belongs to his people, now denied from them, and his race looked down upon by British usurpers.This is what drove “a law abiding attorney” to become a man of rebellion. Filled with a hunger for freedom, and a need to right what has been wronged, simple obstacles like prison and persecution will not get in the way of this man's wish to be free. “When I walked out of prison, that was my mission, to liberate the oppressed and the oppressor both”. Nelson Mandela not only was able to see his people being oppressed, but he could see that the oppressor was not exactly free either. That a man who oppresses his fellow man is trapped in a prison of hatred, and that he, his people, and his oppressors, must be freed from this vicious cycle. This is what led him to become the President of the ANC (African National Congress), and an
Martin Luther King Jr. overlooked more than two hundred and fifty thousand people of all genders, ages, and races at the nation’s capital on August 28th, 1963. King finally had the opportunity after recurrent protests to inform the country of the cruel and unfair treatment of its citizens. Within his speech he quotes the beginning of the preamble "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal"(King 277) Throughout this speech, King was able to use Aristotle’s appeals to help persuade the American nation to change its toxic ways and come together to make things better for everyone through passion, rationality, and reliability.
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.”
Attention Getter- Helped bring an end to apartheid and has been a global advocate for human rights. He was a leader of both peaceful protest and armed resistance against white minorities oppressive regime in a racially divided South Africa. His actions landed him in prison for nearly three decades and made him the face of the antiapartheid movement both within his country and internationally.
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 ...
Human history has been marked with long and painful struggles that fought for human rights and freedoms. Discrimination and racial oppression has always been one of the most controversial struggles for mankind. For South Africa, it was a country where black people were oppressed by the white minority. The colonization of South Africa began in the 18th century by the Dutch empire after Dutch trading companies started using its cape as a center for trading between Asia and Europe (sahistory.org.za). Soon after, the British took over the country and declared it part of the British Empire (sahistory.org.za). Decades after, Afrikaners, who descended from the original Dutch settlers that occupied South Africa, started working on creating a state that separates between black people and whites. Their plans were to create a separation between black people and whites that involved excluding blacks from all types of social, economic, and political activities within the country. All South African natives knew the bad conditions that their people were forced to live in but only a few of them took the responsibility of sacrificing their lives and freedom for the rights of their people. One South African citizen, Nelson Mandela, can be considered the main hero for the South African freedom revolution and the hero for millions of people fighting for their freedoms worldwide. Mandela’s long walk for freedom defined South African history and entered world history as one of the most influential fights for freedom and human rights in the world.
Nelson Mandela in his book, Long Walk to Freedom argues through the first five parts that a black individual must deal, coop, and grow through a society that is hindering their lives' with apartheid and suppression of their rightful land. Rolihlanla Mphakanyiswa or clan name, Madiba was born on July 18, 1918 in a simple village of Mvezo, which was not accustomed to the happenings of South Africa as a whole. His father was an respected man who led a good life, but lost it because of a dispute with the magistrate. While, his mother was a hard-working woman full of daily choirs. His childhood was full of playing games with fellow children and having fun. In school, Mandela was given his English name of Nelson. After his father's death, he moved to love with a regent, who was a well-off individual and owed Nelson's father for a previous favor. The next several years were full of schooling for Nelson. These schools opened Nelson's eyes to many things, which we will discuss later. He and the regent's son, Justice decided to travel to Johannesburg and see what work they could find. They left on their journey without the regent's permission, but eventually escaped his power and settled down in the town. In Johannesburg, Nelson settled down in a law firm as an assistant and went to University of South Africa and Witwatersrand University to further his law education. Witswatersrand University brought many new ideas to Nelson and awakened a spirit inside of him.
2.2. Supporting fact two: Even though Mandela fought against the white minority ruling over the black community, he did not consider white people to be inferior, as he says in this declaration: “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
Nelson Mandela 's inaugural speech given in Pretoria addressed South African citizens and royalty as well as significant political figures. Mandela 's speech covered unity for the people and implied the future was going to embody equality amongst all. His speech covers the darkness and struggle of the past and goes in depth really connecting himself to the audience. His message is clear and easily understood. Mandela addresses the long struggle for democracy in South Africa and his beliefs about humanity. The purpose behind his speech was to acknowledge that the black and white audience should move away from the taunting past and reconcile so they would be able to unify in the future. "We must therefore act together as a united people, for
Apartheid was a system of classified inhabitants and visitors into racial groups. Nelson Mandela is most known for his heroic efforts to end Apartheid in South Africa. During the apartheid era, the blacks were subjected to the worst forms of discrimination by the white minority. They were restricted and forced to live in townships, whereas whites were allowed to enjoy unlimited freedom. Blacks were stripped of their right to vote, own property, marry whites, work with whites, and even travel anywhere without carrying proper documentation. The whites wanted to make sure that no blacks were considered citizens. Mandela’s reaction to the inhumane social conditions was to team up with the ANC, African National Congress, and stop racial discrimination. While others wanted to seek violence in making a d...
Imagine being a black individual living in a South African society where whites thrived in numerous aspects of life while those who were colored were treated very poorly and inferior. This would have been the current situation in the country if it wasn’t for one individual who completely turned the entire nation from a place of inequality and injustice to a land of prosperity and hope. This person was able to suffer through racism, which included being wrongfully imprisoned for nearly 27 years, to ensure that his country would someday view everyone as equal regardless of their skin color. This person, who utterly reshaped the entire nation of South Africa for the better of colored individuals, was Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela.