20 years ago, South African President Nelson Mandela was released from prison. He was in prison for 27 years for opposing the apartheid regime in South Africa. During the apartheid era, the natives of South Africa weren't allowed to vote, and lived under the same types of racist segregation laws that Martin Luther King protested against in the United States!
He later became the President of South Africa.
1) A historical background
Around the 1500's -1800's, the Europeans were looking for new lands to conquer. They conquered the Americas, Australia, the Pacific Islands, and large parts of Africa and Asia!
While the Europeans conquered major parts of Africa, they didn't send much people to settle there! Most Europeans had no desire to live in the jungles or deserts which covered large chunks of Africa.
However, South Africa was far below the equator and had a lot of good farmland. So the Dutch, and later the British settled there! Those 2 European groups even fought over land the African groups settled in centuries before!
The Europeans who conquered South Africa wanted all the good farmland to themselves. They also kept all the well-kept suburban lands to themselves.
They didn't allow the native South Africans to vote, or to enter European-dominated neighborhoods. Just like the Jim Crow laws in the southeastern US, those of African and European ancestry had to use separate facilities, attend separate schools, and couldn't marry each other!
Many native South Africans got tired of that. Nelson Mandela became a leader of the protest movement.
In 1962, Mandela was convicted of treason!
During the 1980's, after decades of struggle, the anti-apartheid protests have gotten more violent. Many felt non-violence has gotten them nowhere! The police has gotten more brutal! The rest of the world watched in horror, as South Africa was increasingly isolated from the rest of the world!
It got to the point where many white South Africans feared that if black South Africans don't get equal rights, things will get even more violent.
In 1990, South Africa had a new president F.W. De Klerk. Though he was once an apartheid supporter, he felt that things would get worse if apartheid was to continue.
FW De Klerk decided to release Mandela and all other political prisoners. Apartheid laws were repealed. All South African adults had gotten the right to vote!
1994 had the first multi-racial elections. Nelson Mandela won the presidential election. He was the 1st native South African President.
2) Some South Africans of European ancestry feared what would happen if the native South Africans took over.
In Zimbabwe, a country just north of South Africa, the British settlers and their descendants had apartheid laws there as well. Robert Mugabe led the armed resistance against white-domination of Zimbabwe.
When he became president of Zimbabwe, Mugabe tolerated and encouraged hate crimes against citizens of European ancestry. Mugabe took property away from European-descendants.
It was totally different under Nelson Mandela! Mandela wanted a multi-racial democracy! He wanted everyone to get along. He understood that South Africans of European ancestry didn't chose to have ancestors who stole African lands!
While Zimbabwe disintegrated under Mugabe, South Africa had prospered under Mandela.
While Mugabe wants to be Zimbabwe's dictator for life, Nelson Mandela chose not to run for re-election in 1999. He wanted the next generation to continue democracy in South Africa.
There are challenges in South Africa. It has one of the highest AIDS rate in the world. It does have a violent crime problem.
But things could easily have gotten worse. This is why leadership matters. Robert Mugabe is all about hate, grudges, grievances and revenge. Nelson Mandela is all about unity, tolerance, and reconciliation.
3) There was the silly perception of Nelson Mandela being a "communist".
While some anti-apartheid leaders had communist sympathies, and while the anti-apartheid movement did get support from communist nations like Cuba and China, that didn't mean Mandela was a communist.
Mandela's presidency proved he wasn't a communist.
While Mandela was more left-leaning than would be tolerated in the U.S., private businesses were continued to be allowed to prosper. In fact, new foreign investments came in during Mandela's presidency!
Freedom of speech, assembly, religion and other civil liberties were allowed under Mandela's presidency! Totally opposite of what goes on in communist countries!
4) Mandela is still alive at age 91 and still doing well!
Check out
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/feb/11/nelson-mandela-release-remembered/print
5) In other South Africa news , that country hosts the soccer's World Cup this year! The 1st World Cup to be held in South Africa.
While Brazil hosts South America's 1st Olympics in 2016, will South Africa host Africa's 1st Olympics in 2020? Only time will tell.
