The Real Mandela

Every great person is complex. Nelson Mandela was a real person. He is also a legend, a kind of modern day saint. In many ways, he is like Mohandas Gandhi, or Martin Luther King, Jr., both real men, who changed our world, who have almost been lost in myth.

                 

Much like Gandhi, or Martin Luther King Jr., he was born into a privileged family (relatively speaking). Like Gandhi, he was the son of a traditional ruler, royalty, and raised in a deeply religious (in his case Christian) household.  Like Martin Luther King Jr., He had a college education from an elite black university. He studied anthropology and law, amongst other things.

 Like his other two, he was deeply interested in the history and culture of his people. Like Gandhi and MLK Jr., he originally had somewhat benevolent views towards the ruling class/colonists early in his life, and only became radicalized over time. Like Ghandi, he studied law and worked in law for much of his young career while continuing his advocacy efforts. 

Like Gandhi and MLK, his family life was not perfect. His relationship with his children was distant and strained at times. He frequently was away. He was accused of abusing his first wife. He went through a messy divorce, multiple times. His first wife took his children.

His views developed. He was almost always at least a liberal, but became more of a radical leftist in the face of massive violence from the apartheid government. He began anti-communist and then collaborated closely with communists, although it is not clear whether or not he ever actually became one (he denies it). He began with concerned protests and other pragmatic non-violent activity, for over a decade. But unlike Gandhi or MLK, after massacres who were ideologically committed to non-violence on theological terms, Mandela was a pragmatist. When non-violence worked, he used it. When not, he changed his methods. 

Mandela headed a violent military arm of the African National Congress, directing action against the apartheid government. He coordinated bombings against police and military targets, intending mainly property damage. His next step was to escalate. He began training in guerilla warfare. He was arrested and tried before he could lead a full revolutionary force. He was more of a George Washington then a Gandhi, in this sense. 

His true glory was as a prisoner. His thirty or so years in prison were his greatest triumph. He could have come out full of anger. Instead, he educated himself, and built alliances. He became a symbol of hope for an entire nation, and a source of inspiration. In the middle of brutal prison conditions, even after 27 years, he found a way to work towards forgiveness and a desire for reconciliation.


                      


He did not follow the way of Algeria, that expelled over a million white colonists, composing over 10% of the population, through brutal resistence. Instead he lead through negotiation and truth. By letting go of hate, and desire for retribution, he  lead a country to a  mostly peaceful transition, speaking with the very people who had destroyed most of his life.

    

Yes, he was a good politician, and an inspirational speaker and writer. But his pragmatic ability to create reconciliation was very difficult to match, at any point in history. A real human being, with a history, political opponents, mistakes. But still able to bring healing to a nation, and inspire a world.




The time has come for your well earned rest, Madiba. But try not to worry about us. There is always a new generation to begin that long, never-ending walk towards freedom.