The Themes Of Love In Nelson Mandela's Long Walk To Freedom

Good day to all

“No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.”― Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom

But does love really come more naturally to the heart? With the revival of xenophobia, the increase in crime against humanity , not only in South Africa, but throughout the world, this concept is questionable.

There is a saying among wise men that when you fail to learn from your past, you are condemned to repeat it. There is also a saying that when a man victimises you, he should bow his head in shame. When he repeats that action

The massacre continued for three days and two nights, without respite or relief and with a curious apathy displayed by the forces of law and order. When it was over, Dara gathered his family around him, buried his dead , and stoically picked up the threads of his life from the smouldering ruins of his hard-earned possessions. The treasured acquisitions garnered over more than half a century had been wiped out virtually

He wrote and I quote” Like our ancestors , you and I made this country our home, we worked hard in a hostile land and we prospered . we have been fair ,we have given our fair share to charity. We built our schools, hospitals and old-age homes. And we opened them up to all races. It was not our laws that denied the black man access to these facilities. Our factories and trading houses provide employment for a great many of those people who choose to consider us as their natural victims. When the riots of 1949 failed to break our spirits, the state resorted to more overt measures such as the Ghetto Act, which it implemented with a ruthlessness that would have shamed a ganglord. Throughout all this, our people joined the blacks in the politics of resistance , holding high the banner of justice whilst their majority suffered in silence. In resisting and protesting against the state’s infamy we shed not a drop of blood, choosing instead the now world renowned weapon of Passive Resistance, which we ourselves learnt at the feet of the great