The Battle Against Apartheid

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Long-denied rights and freedoms wouldn’t have been granted to the now multi-racial South Africa, if it hadn’t been been for two icons in black history who battled against Apartheid. The recurring theme in the articles “Steve Biko” and “Obituaries; Nelson Mandela” is that both strongly fought against Apartheid and worked to overturn the oppression of the black race to restore their basic human rights. Steve Biko started his career as an activist at the age of 20 and founded a movement called The Black Consciousness that grew quickly. Because of the growth, the government started to jail hundreds of members of the movement and had the police hack into his phone to watch his every move. Biko was then banned by the government of all methods that supported the struggle, although, despite the ban, Biko continued to support the cause using various illegal strategies. The police soon arrested him without charge and treated him abusively and vulgarly. Biko then died that year due to serious brain damage and 17 years later Nelson Mandela, another leader of the struggle, was elected as president in a free and open election. Hoping to give black South Africans the right to vote along with other rights, and society only getting worse, Mandela opened up the country’s first black law firm in 1952. Then in 1960, 69 peaceful demonstrators were killed, infuriating Mandela, causing him to lead a bombing campaign against official government sites and offices. Because of the campaign, he would then spend the next 27 years of his life in prison doing harsh labor in a limestone quarry. However, the battle wasn’t over yet, as these two demonstrators would continue to fight until the day of the overturn of Apartheid.

Steve Biko on immense a...

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... that Mandela had abandoned his commitment because of who he was and the way he stress and preached non-violence. Despite this, both demonstrators were abused emotionally and physically, but still managed to improve the laws and mentality towards the black South African race in a peaceful way that is recognized today.

Nelson Mandela and Steve Biko were the two icons who created the new equal and multiracial South Africa. They fought a long and hard battle against Apartheid and put their lives up for the cause. They improved the basic human rights and laws of blacks in South Africa while uplifting the oppression of the race. They put their desires and self-respect on the backburner their whole lives to give pride and justice to their people. These two peaceful demonstrators will forever live in the hearts of the black race and will go down in history globally.

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