Mandela Essay

Nelson Mandela and the Altruist Archetype

 
“I have always believed that to be a freedom fighter one must suppress many of the personal feelings that make one feel like a separate individual rather than part of a mass movement. One is fighting for the liberation of millions of people, not the glory of one individual. I am not suggesting that a man become a robot and rid himself of all personal feelings and motivations. But in the same way that a freedom fighter subordinates his own family to the family of the people, he must subordinate his own individual feelings to the movement.”
 
Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom, pg. 228

 

 
 
Nelson Mandela, the South African freedom fighter and leader of the African National Congress, fought, for the majority of his adult life, to have the policies of racism eradicated from the South African system of  government. In doing so, he sacrificed his relationship with his family, his way of life, and finally his freedom, to ensure the freedom of his people. Mandela spent over twenty-five years in prison, during which time he became the symbol of South African pride in the struggle for African rights. He sacrificed more than most of us can imagine, and did so with dignity and humility, becoming a walking embodiment of the altruistic hero. Truly one of the great men of the Twentieth-Century, Mandela stands as an example of how great sacrifice of the individual can aid in the ultimate struggle for human rights. There are many examples of altruistic behavior through out Mandela’s life as a revolutionary freedom fighter. It is the purpose of this essay to give examples of the many ways Mandela gave of himself for the good of his people.
Mandela was born on the eighteenth of July, 1918, in a small village in the Transkei, in south- eastern South Africa. He is a member of the Xhosa nation, which encompasses this region of Africa, and  he grew up with the traditions of that people. Mandela describes the Xhosas as a proud people with an “expressive and euphonious language and an abiding belief in the importance of laws, education, and courtesy.” (Mandela, Pg. 4). These were qualities that were not lost on Mandela, and he developed a fascination with education and law that has lasted his entire life. He would use this interest in law to help in the struggle to end apartheid.
The literal translation of apartheid is “apartness.” It was officially instated into South African policy at the end of the nineteen forties by the National Party, a party made up of descendents of the Dutch colonists called Afrikaners. The National Party had publicly sympathized with the Nazis during the Second World War, and actually fought their election on racist slogans, pandering to the white, ultra-conservatives of South Africa. The Nationals held almost absolute power over South Africa for forty years, until Mandela’s release from prison. During this time they practiced the policies of apartheid, which holds the premise that all whites are superior to the other ethnic cultures of South Africa.
The National Party, and its supporters, were Mandela’s main rivals in his struggle to end racist policy in the country, although his struggle wasn’t limited to the Nationals. Many factions inside the freedom struggle worked against him, including the Communist Party, the Pan African Congress, and elements inside his own party, the African National Congress. Mandela handled these rivalries with humility and patience, often conceding his own opinion to the good of the struggle.
As a young man, Mandela was the head of the Youth League of the A.N.C. He was opposed to the Communist Party because he felt that it diluted the message of the struggle, and he was suspicious of its motives. As he matured he realized that in the struggle against the oppression of a race one had to make concessions with others who could aid in the defeat of the ultimate enemy. This is often known as choosing the lesser of two evils. He rationalized that Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt had to ally themselves with Joseph Stalin in order to defeat Hitler, and he saw the same situation in his struggle. He states, “The cynical have always suggested that the communists were using us. But who is to say that we were not using them.”(Mandela, pg. 121) He was met by fierce opposition within his own party and by the Pan African Congress, who were dedicated to fighting the struggle as a black only organization. He stood his ground on the subject, and subjugated himself to criticism from all parties concerned, including the Communists. He was able to sacrifice his pride in order to show how necessary it was to unify against a common enemy. For his alignment with the Communist Party, Mandela was required to resign from the ANC and was restricted to the Johannesburg district under the Suppression of Communism Act.
Mandela not only sacrificed his political pride in the struggle to end apartheid. He gave up the opportunity to have a normal married life, and to watch his children grow up. He was often banned by the government for speaking out against apartheid, and could not move freely about the country. At one stage before his life sentence, he led the life of a fugitive from justice, hiding in safe houses, and moving about the country with the threat of arrest constantly looming over his shoulder. He used this time to organize and rally the members of the struggle, and to form a policy of resistance that could be implemented throughout the country.
On March 21, 1960, sixty-nine Africans died during what is known as the Sharpeville Massacre. Police opened fire into a crowd of thousands, shooting most of the victims in the back as they fled. Due to fear of African retaliation, the government started rounding up suspected leaders of the resistance. Although Mandela had little to do with the protest that led to the shootings, his house was ransacked and his mother’s history of the family and tribal fables were taken. Mandela was led off to prison. Sharpeville marked a watershed in Mandela’s philosophy about resistance. Up to this point he had been mainly a pacifist, believing in non-violent activism. Now he started to sacrifice his belief in non-violent forms of protest, and began to believe that acts of violence were the only way to bring about social change in South Africa. He had to suppress his revulsion toward violent acts, and align with the more militaristic elements of the movement. He helped to form a faction of the ANC called the MK which was to oversee militaristic acts apart from the main body of the party. Even then he urged the use of sabotage rather than the harm of individuals, as the most effective use of violence for the struggle.
In 1962, after over a year of hiding underground, Mandela was arrested for the final time. He was to stand trial for sabotage, and faced the very real possibility of the death sentence. He says “From that moment on we lived in the shadow of the gallows.” (Mandela, Pg. 350). Mandela was now preparing himself for the ultimate sacrifice, the loss of his life for the struggle of his people.
During the trial, which lasted through February of 1964, Mandela was to be the first witness for the defense. It was decided that Mandela would make a statement instead of being cross-examined. In South African courts, statements from the dock carry less weight than ordinary testimony, so Mandela was putting himself in a dangerous position legally because his statement would be discounted by the judge. Once again Mandela was using his notoriety to make a statement of ideals and policies for the betterment of the cause with little regard as to how it would affect him personally. In his address, he carefully explained the ideology of the ANC and the freedom movement, using the opportunity to speak to all South Africans of all races. He detailed the huge chasm between life for the blacks and life for the whites in the country, and he formally disputed allegations that the aims of the communist party and the ANC were the same. In his closing statements he made this declaration: “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 to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die." (Mandela pg. 368)
Towards the end of the trial Mandela and his compatriots decided that if they were found guilty they were not going to appeal the decision, even if they received the death penalty. They felt that appeal proceedings would hamper the massive protest campaign that would most likely rise up. To quote Mandela “Our message was that no sacrifice was too great in the struggle for freedom.” (Mandela, pg. 373)
Mandela was not given the death penalty but received a sentence of life imprisonment instead. He was forty-six years old. He was taken to South Africa’s notorious island prison, Robben Island. The width of his cell was about six feet, and when he lay down he could feel one wall graze his head and the other touch his feet. His first occupation was breaking up large stones into gravel and later in a lime quarry. He was allowed only one visitor every six months, and he was allowed mail only once in the same period.
During this time Mandela never gave up his hope for justice. His new campaign seemed to be to improve the conditions in the prison, and he fought this battle just as he had fought apartheid on the outside. He believed that the two were the same, fighting injustice in prison and fighting the injustices of a race spiritually imprisoning another. He defended criminal prisoners that had been beaten by the prison officials, and he fought tirelessly for more privileges, such as the right to study and receive more frequent visits from family. He stepped out of line when an important prison system official was visiting the island, in order to relate grievances to the official. For this he was given four days in isolation. The list of selfless acts he committed for the good of the community is seemingly endless.
In 1969 Mandela suffered one of the most grievous losses of his life. His first son, Thembi, was killed in car accident at the age twenty-five. He says. “It left a hole in my heart that can never be filled.” (Mandela, pg. 447) He asked for permission to go to the funeral but was denied. He had sacrificed even the right to attend his deceased son’s funeral in order that South Africans could have justice.
By the 1980’s Nelson Mandela had become one of the greatest living symbols of world wide human rights. He had spent over twenty years in prison, patiently waiting for world opinion and inside agitation to slowly but steadily decay the archaic system of apartheid. While he was imprisoned Mandela never stopped fighting the battle and never abandoned his altruistic nature, which caused him personal sacrifice, but seemed to give strength to the movement with every selfless act.
 Nelson Mandela was released from prison on February 11th 1990. Earlier that month the president of South Africa, F.W. deKlerk, had started proceedings that would officially dismantle the apartheid system. The bans on the ANC and the PAC were lifted as well as the South African Communist Party. This eventually led to free elections in South Africa. On May 10, 1994, Mandela was inaugurated as President of South Africa.
Mandela still is fighting for justice. Even as the remnants of apartheid are becoming less apparent, many other social and political problems face South Africa today. Aids is ravaging the country and political infighting between the ANC and the Inkatha party have caused violent deaths throughout the country. At eighty-four, Mandela is still stepping in and working to find solutions to these and many other problems. He is still giving his life to the cause of a better life for his people.    
 
  
    
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Works Cited
 Mandela, N. (1994). Long Walk To Freedom, Boston: Little, Brown and Company