QUESTION
SOLUTION
Nelson Mandela’s narration on the problem of nationalism and citizenship in South Africa: Long Walk to Freedom
The Long Walk to Freedom is Nelson Mandela’s autobiography which describes the event that occurred in his life and reflects on his political career and his struggle to achieve his goals. He dreamt of a world where there was no racial discrimination and where people lived in harmony irrespective of their race they enjoyed the same amount of privilege and rights, where one race did not dominate the other. He dreamt of creating a free South Africa. Apart from facing many challenges Nelson Mandela still continued to fight and achieve his goals.
Nelson Mandela was a fighter who fought consistently without stopping even when there were so many hurdles. Though he was sent to jail yet he did not stop his efforts and achieved what he had decided to achieve. He was totally against the disparity between the races, black and white. He refused to accept that one race should dominate the other race and that the whites should always dominate the black. He dreamt of a democracy which is ideal and where there is no demarcation between people on the basis of their color or ethnicity and where people have equal rights.
There were many friends that Nelson had while he was struggling to achieve his dream:
Some of them were white friends. (McGoodwin) They include Joe Slovo who was a Communist. His wife Ruth was also his friend and they were Jewish immigrants. George Bizos who was a Greek immigrants and Bram Fischer who belonged to Afrikaner stock were his other fiends along with Tony O’Dowd, Harold Wolpe (CP members) and Jules Browde. His Indian friends include Ismail Meer who later became a key member of the Transvaal Indian Congress (TIC), J. N. Singh , etc. Nelson was arrested when he was trying to ride a train with them though not allowed as a black “kaffir”. He was thereafter defended by Bram Fischer and was later acquitted.
African National Congress (ANC) was the most important organization in Nelson Mandela’s life. Post attending the ANC meetings Nelson had joined the same organization keeping in mind the thought of stopping apartheid. The ANC was typically an organization which is non violent in nature and follows non violent practices and then when the governments did not listen to their demands and say they tried different other methods to make the governments listen to them to end the practice of apartheid. The members of ANC including Nelson committed some crime which was against the laws. These crimes included crimes like sabotaging, protesting, and moving in areas which were prohibited without having passbooks, etc. For the same, Nelson and others were imprisoned and were sentenced for imprisonment and they were sent to Robbin Island. The other institution which holds importance in Nelson’s life is the UNISA (University of South Africa) where he earned his BA and used to work at night. Apart from UNISA and ANC, Nelson was also associated with Witwatersrand Native Labor Association (WLNA). In the year 1944 Nelson and his friends formed the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL). Their aim was to achieve a true democratic state in South Africa, and in the rest of the areas of the African continent. His notion was to achieve the state of freedom where all the races, caste, and creed enjoyed the same human rights and all the nationalities were guaranteed to live freely and earn their livelihood in the democratic constitution. For achieving the same he struggled very hard and was up and against all odds. For the same the bodies namely, Congress Youth League and the National Movement struggled hard so that the discriminatory laws can be abolished which related to the color bars and the Africans can enjoy the full citizenship, and that they get an adequate representation in the parliament on the basis of democracy.
(“Robben Island”) Nelson Mandela was a very important man who fought consistently for the notions that he truly believed, he fought not for himself but for the entire Africans, for the Africans human rights. He was a person who never gave up and struggled a lot in his entire lifetime to make his dreams come true. He was a normal boy during his childhood who continued his education at the age of 16. He was faced with many challenges in his life and finally he met success. When he continued his studies and he went to college he saw that there was huge racism and that the black South Africans were not at all allowed to work in the government sector.
The laws in the arena of Apartheid restricted people who had abilities to contribute, perform, and earn their living. He was the presidents of ANC and the South Africa. During his fight for Apartheid he was sent to prison and was sentenced for the long period of 27 years. During the period when he was in jail, he still struggled and fought for the noble cause. After all success came to Mandela and when he was freed from the jail he could see that the black people had the rights and a say which they rightly deserve as other human beings had.
When he got released people were eagerly waiting for their leader, the one who made it all possible. When the apartheid ended he gave a speech to all. He was also awarded with the Nobel Prize in the year 1993 where his actions were appreciated. After all the years that he had contributed for the reason that everyone should be treated equally irrespective of their ethnicity or their race, he was awarded and he became the first black president of South Africa on 2nd May, 1994.
Nelson Mandela had encountered a lot of important and crucial events in lifetime and the struggle which he started and achieved successfully is indeed great and will be remembered forever not only by the residents of his own country but by the rest of the world.
Reference:
“Nelson Mandela.” Robben Island. Freedom.co.za, 2011. Web. 30 Mar 2012. <http://www.freedom.co.za/madiba.html>
McGoodwin, Michael. “Nelson Mandela Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela.”. Little Brown & Co. edition, 18 F. Web. 30 Mar 2012. <http://www.mcgoodwin.net/pages/otherbooks/nm_longwalk.html>
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