Monday, December 16, 2013
Remembering Mandela, without Rose-Colored Glasses
As the world watched the passing of Nelson Mandela, 95, what died with him was the true Nelson Mandela. I ask, "Who is the real Nelson Mandela?" for which there is only one answer. I also ponder how a nation as great as ours can applaud the life of one of the most notorious communist terrorists of his time. With my recollection, I recall that the United States of America was opposed to Communist aggression and terrorist acts such as bombings of buildings and necklacing; however, Nelson Mandela was guilty of all this and more. One is not simply jailed for over two decades for no reason, Mandela was guilty of mass-murder. The real Nelson Mandela I answer is a man who founded and commanded the ANC, a communist organization, and who directed many bombings of public places, killing more women and children than apartheid security, and also directed the necklacing of individuals he deemed guilty. Necklacing is one of the most horrific punishments, filling a tire with gasoline and hanging around one's neck and lighting on fire until the one parishes. Nelson Mandela, the real Nelson Mandela was a mass murderer; his organization killing some 14,000 in 4 years, double that of all of apartheid within all of its years. America and the world must stop listening to lore and learning to obtain their own opinion through unbiased research. How can Mandela be compared to MLK and Gandhi, peaceful protesters, though he used violence? Did the means justify the end, Mr. Mandela? One to I have begun to believe lied his way into the presidency of South Africa. Much more to read is provided here. Lets praise and mourn someone deserving, I know I will. Lastly, if our president praises such a man of those capabilities, why are we spending trillions of dollars against terrorism and communism?
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That was very enlightening.
ReplyDeleteSuper Interesting! Here is another article I found: http://thebackbencher.co.uk/3-things-you-didnt-want-to-know-about-nelson-mandela/
ReplyDeleteApartheid was a racist, separatist, violent, depraved and immoral system of governance-by-total-control that persisted mere years before you were born and long after the course of history had left it behind. Please read more on apartheid and I would strongly suggest South African authors--black and white (Mphahlele, Lessing, Gordimer are some starting points). Apartheid's utter brutality beget a resistance movement that, yes, resorted to violence and allied with supporters like Fidel Castro when the rest of the world was still on the sidelines (that last part is a generous characterization...there is much out there on the cozy financial relationships between the apartheid leaders and American, European leaders and companies).
ReplyDeleteTo insist on judging Mandela and the ANC through the lens of 'whose side were they on in during our now-dead Cold War struggle' is misguided because it insists that our struggle was their struggle. It most certainly was not.
Mandela did not govern as a communist when he was elected president and managed to preside over a power transition that did not see whites flee. That said, his legacy is complex and I suspect he would have totally rejected the hagiography we're seeing now. Many South Africans are mourning the loss of Mandela while decrying the corruption of the ANC (Mandela's memorial service featured many in the stadium booing Zuma the current president and ANC party leader. Where South Africa goes next is anyone's guess). We might not see that if we don't read South Africans themselves. If we really want a broader, more informed, even skeptical perspective we need to be willing to look beyond the self-serving nature of so many of the eulogies at the Mandela memorials as well as the self-serving nature of the link you provided here from the National Review.
Thanks for reading this, Cody.