Nelson Mandela was born on July 18, 1918, in what was then known as the Union of South Africa, a dominion of the British Empire. Though the majority of its inhabitants were Black, they were dominated by a white minority that controlled the land, the wealth, and the government a discriminatory social structure that would later be codified in the country’s legal system and called apartheid.
What was Mandela’s struggle about?
Mandela fought against apartheid, a system of white supremacy in South Africa. Under apartheid, everyone was put into one of four racial categories: “white/European,” “black,” “colored,” or “Indian/Asian.” Non‐white South Africans were second‐class citizens with little or no political power. Restrictive laws governed every aspect of people’s lives, dictating where they could live, work and travel and restricting their access to education, health care and other social services.
Mandela rose up against apartheid and called upon all South Africans to join him. Although he was arrested and imprisoned for 27 years for fighting for freedom, Mandela refused to give up the struggle or give in to hate. Mandela was fighting against apartheid, but he was also fighting for something: a better world, in which the freedom, justice and dignity of all were respected. Even before his release in 1990, Mandela began negotiating with the government to end apartheid. Through those negotiations, he helped prevented a bloody civil war. Mandela went on to become the country’s first democratically elected president.
During a lifetime of resistance, imprisonment, and leadership, Nelson Mandela led South Africa out of apartheid and into an era of reconciliation and majority rule.
He spent 27 years in prison. Confined to a small cell, the floor his bed, a bucket for a toilet. He was forced to do hard labor in Quarry. He was allowed one visitor a year only for 30 minutes.
Conclusion
Mandela’s courage is inspiring and his story is dramatic, but he did not end apartheid alone. In South Africa and around the world, people were inspired by Mandela’s example.
Mandela: Struggle for Freedom is about one man, but it is also about the many who came together to oppose racism and injustice.
