We anticipated that tributes would be pouring in immediately from around the world, but sadly also knew that most of them would misrepresent the true Mandela making him out to be a caricature of western fancies, turn him into a lovable, excessively magnanimous Hollywood character whose commitment to peace and willingness to embrace enemies could make everybody feel good. This practice is a deliberate misreading of history guaranteed to miss the point of the man.
The primary significance of Mandela was not his willingness to lock arms or hold hands with his enemies. It was his unshakable resolve to do whatever was necessary to bring his enemies to their knees. His goal was nothing short of freeing his people from the murderous yoke of racial oppression. He certainly was not the sweet, empty, inoffensive personality of ad agencies or greeting cards or public service messages. Mandela was a firebrand, a liberator, a truth-teller – above all he was a warrior. That he wasn’t a hater doesn’t for a moment minimize the fierceness of his militancy.
Mandela accepted violence as an essential tool in the struggle. He led the armed wing of the African National Congress Umkhonto We Sizwe, explaining: “Our mandate was to wage acts of violence against the state… Our intention was to begin with what was least violent to individuals but most damaging to the state.” Ronald Reagan denounced him as a terrorist and Dick Cheney opposed his release from prison.
Mandela was hounded by his oppressors and repeatedly persecuted, vilified by any number of establishment figures who despised his direct action tactics and finally jailed. He was only 46 when he was jailed for life.
This was not a warm and fuzzy individual, a fantasy figures for the personal edification of the clueless and cynical west. This was a hard-core revolutionary committed with every ounce of his being to the wholesale transformation of his society. When giants like Mandela are stripped of their revolutionary essence and remade as sentimental stick figures to be gushed over by all and sundry, the atrocities that sparked their fury and led to their commitment can be overlooked, left safely behind, even imagined never to have occurred.
It’s a way for the west and their collaborators to sidestep the everlasting shame of past atrocities and their own collusion in the widespread horrors of racism that still haunt us.
Mandela must be remembered for who he truly was, a fearless revolutionary.
Mandela has been turned into à Hollywood personality,à clown and a smiling uncle Tom.Essentially Mandela was à true revolutionary.He was made to abandon the fundamental aspects of the struggle eg the redistribution of wealth and land reforms which was the corner stone of the freedom charter.He became soft towards the West.He made friends not with those who where shouting for his release from prison but with those who stood by in the face of the apartheid crimes.He became friends with the American music industry.Hollywood junkies visited Mandela’s home without end.Mandela never invited reggae musicians who contributed to à large extent in making the anti apartheid voice heard.Instead he made the likes of Michael Jackson ,Noamie Campbell etc friends.In short Mandela was americanised to the extend of becoming à mere dancer at any given situation.He became less and less relevant to the struggle.For him the struggle got won the moment he left his prison cell.He concetrated on writing his biography instead of adding to the struggle by writing essential works on land and economic issues.
Today Mandela has became à friend to the West more than to the Africans.It is not by accident that Obama hijacked the show and non of the prominent African leaders who fought against apartheid including our own Kaunda was given space to speak.What does Obama and america know about apartheid .Didn’t Regean brand Mandela à terroriste?.
The réal warriors like Bantu Biko,Thambo,Chris Hani etc got killed in time.Mandela got préservéd and used in making majority blacks think that apartheid was gone with the release of Mandela from prison.The trueth is ,apartheid lingers on. As long as land and the economy in général is in the hards of boers
south Africans and Africa will not be free.
Totally right
Very true also.
very realistic observation
Did the writer say Mandela was leading a non violent wing Linyungandambo?
Truly spot on. Mandela is my hero and model. He died on my birthday. He was 46 when he was jailed. I am 46 when he has died. My true model!
Well written!
Spot on!