Amy Biehl: Modern Day Hero

859 Words2 Pages

Stabbed, stoned, and killed. She died at the hands of those she hoped to help. Amy Biehl was a college student going to South Africa to study more about the systems of society. Instead, she turned to dedicating herself to end apartheid wishing South Africa a better society. Amy Biehl studied about systems of society when she saw South Africa’s society and wanted to change it. She is known to have a rather compassionate heart regarding society. This woman’s life was taken from her when she dedicated it all to ending apartheid. On her last day at South Africa, a mob gathered, soon stabbing and stoning her to death. According to others familiar with her, she would have understood that the mob who killed her, killed her out of their hatred for …show more content…

Amy Biehl would have forgiven those who killed her because she understood the society of South Africa. One would have been more compassionate and urging forgiveness of a violent black South African mob more than the young American white woman whom it stabbed to death” (Newsweek). Being the understanding modern day hero, she would have forgiven the people who had caused her very own death,. Amy Biehl knows that it wasn at the fault of the mob, but the apartheid system sapping the emotions out of them. The apartheid system consisted of a society full of discrimination and racism. Since Amy Biehl was a white American, she was killed out of hate brought out by the hateful society. Amy Biehl’s understanding is also portrayed by her awareness. Her South African roommate had known that those kids had humanity brutalized from them. ¨Melanie Jacobs, Biehl´s South African roommate, explained in Newsweek that had Biehl survived the attack, she ´would have been there to explain to those kids that their hate was built up by the apartheid system¨ (Newsweek). Amy Biehl´s effect on people have them realize she wouldn't have put a blame on anyone. She was aware of going to a broken society, therefore, understanding that the mob would not truly hurt anyone if they were not raised under such a society. Others aware of Amy´s personality would agree that although she is dead, her understanding self would come to realize that apartheid had “killed” their

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