Nelson Mandela

It ’s midnight, and all is quiet. It is a typical suburban South African night. All of this changes when, suddenly, high powered lights shine in all the windows of one family’s house, illuminating most of the interior. There is a shout to open up, and since there is no immediate response, (as if a sleeping household could provide one), the door is kicked in, the father is hauled sleepily out of bed at gun point, and taken away to jail. Before he is shoved into the car he turns and says to his family, "I’ll be back in the morning, and manages a feeble smile." But he won’t. All of this happens in a matter of minutes, with the wife and kids looking on, the kids asking of their sobbing mother, "Where’s daddy going?" Of course the wife doesn’t know if she will see her husband again, tomorrow, or in five years. This is the story of Nelson Mandela, the freedom fighter from South Africa, the man who devoted his life to ending the Apartheid in his country.

A Hero. What is a hero? How is a hero determined a "hero?" I think all people have a hero, or at least a set of standard qualities that are reserved by that person through which to define a hero. I believe that I have a set of qualities set to define a hero in my life, if he or she comes along. A modern day hero has to be willing to stand up for what he believes to be right, no matter the cost and sacrifice. He has to defend his views and fight to make his thoughts be heard and must try to change the laws against his views. This person must not accept defeat. Nelson Mandela is definitely a hero because he did all of this. Apartheid is the separation of the races. It is when the government encourages, or, in South Africa’s case, forces the division of the races. In South Africa the blacks were oppressed and were forced to do many things differently than whites. For example, it was a crime to live in the wrong section of town. Blacks were not allowed to attend the same schools, and were discouraged from getting a good education. Only whites were allowed to hold positions of power. There were always "just white" elections, blacks were forbidden from voting. But it is strange that the blacks did not overcome their oppressors, because there were far more blacks in the country than whites. The way that the blacks were treated is similar to the way that they were treated in our country, after they were freed from slavery.

In 1952, the ANC started its Defiance of Unjust Laws, and Mandela was elected National Volunteer-in-Chief. This was a campaign for mass civil disobedience, in which volunteers would infiltrate various towns and cities, gain support, and cause a disturbance. Doing what was his responsibility, he traveled around South Africa organizing "resistance, and mass defiance" (Nelson Mandela, 5). For all of this he was charged and brought to trial for his part in the campaign. But the court found that Mandela was innocent of the most serious charge, and that he had always told his followers to use peaceful methods, and to avoid violence. He was, however, convicted for his part in the Defiance campaign, against the Suppression of Communism Act, and was given a suspended prison sentence. When the campaign ended he was prohibited from attending gatherings and was confined to Johannesburg for 6 months. Once again, he was paying the price for what he believed in. During his period of restrictions, Mandela took the attorney's exam, passed, and set up a practice with Oliver Tambo. Their professional position did not earn them any immunity from the harsh rules of Apartheid, and when they got stuck on the wrong side of a land segregation legislation suit they were forced to take their practice out of the city. Since none of their clients would have been able to reach them during working hours, they would have no business, Tambo and Mandela decided to defy the law, because both of them thought that the law was wrong. They stayed in Johannesburg. The government was not the only party trying to stop their law practice. The white Transvaal Law Society also tried to stop it by petitioning the Supreme Court to knock Mandela off of the roll of attorneys. In spite of this, The Justice found that their practice had done nothing wrong, and they had been inspired to help their fellow people.

Many times while he was in jail he was offered freedom if he would accept certain policies and theories, but all were flatly denied. In 1980 he was offered freedom if he would stop the violent work of his people, but it was refused again. He told his jailers that, "Prisoners cannot enter into contracts. Only free men can negotiate" (Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela 34). On February 11, 1990 he was released. There are two reasons for his release. The first is that a life term does not necessarily mean that the prisoner is in jail until death, it is usually for a certain number of years called a life term, the number varies with the country. The second reason is that F. W. de Klerk worked with the government to get the release of Mandela. Once out, Mandela went right back to work. He started trying to attain the goals that he had set out for nearly 40 years before. Even jail time had not changed his mind. In 1991 he had the first ANC meeting since it had been banned, and he was elected president of the organization. In December 1993, he and a man named F. W. de Klerk were awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace. De Klerk was the president of South Africa who worked for peace, and it was a result of his work that Mandela was released. As a result of Mandela’s and de Klerk’s work there were the first all-race elections in January 1994, and Nelson Mandela was elected the President of South Africa. He was the first black president of South Africa. The ANC also won a majority of the country’s seats. Once he was president he worked to stop the Apartheid, and worked to get the whites and blacks to work together. The new constitution specifically barred discrimination of all minorities, including whites. He was against the discrimination of whites even after what they had done to him, and now that he had power. He worked to add whites to power and give them a part in government, and to bring peace to all of the people of South Africa.

Nelson Mandela definitely fits my description for a modern day hero. It is obvious that he knew what he wanted and he did all that he could to get that done. He is a symbol of freedom and peace for all blacks in South Africa, and is certainly a hero to all of those people who lived under white oppression. He did his best to use peaceful tactics as long as he could, and did his best to work inside the law, until he was outlawed by the government because he was too dangerous. All of his detainments and jail terms did not turn him from his goal of peace. Even a life sentence did not perturb him, and when he was released he became the top political person in his country and he then achieved his goal, peace. He brought security and stability to his country. He made his country a safer place to live, and he also did his best to stop discrimination in the country that he presided over. In his own words, "I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die for" (Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, 33).