Honoring Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela appears to be near the end of his life, and I'd like to honor him in my own small way.

There are few great men on the world stage in any era, and I am glad that Nelson Mandela's life has overlapped with mine.

Mandela sacrificed greatly not only for his fellow black South Africans, but for justice for all his countrymen. Upon gaining power, he could have acted with personal vengeance or secured and further enhanced his immense popularity with black South Africans through retribution and even oppression of white South Africans, but instead he led his nation to reconciliation, putting the future ahead of the past, and unity above tribalism.

And after all his sacrifice, amid all his glory, he was extraordinarily humble.

As Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen put it recently, Mandela has been "the standard for us all". After noting the great sacrifices made by Mandela for his noble cause, Cohen writes:

What you find often in insurgents is a bitter hatred and the need to carry on the struggle even after it’s over. This is not what happened with Mandela. He was not a freedom fighter looking to continue the fight — a Yasser Arafat unable to put down his gun and take yes for an answer. Mandela was able to administer, to turn to politics, to plead for racial understanding and tolerance. More important, he embodies those qualities. He evened no scores, waged no vendettas, never made himself the cause and casts a shadow across the inner lives of all people. He was the first black president of South Africa. He remains the standard by which we must judge ourselves.

Fareed Zakaria put it well in a recent Washington Post column:

Nelson Mandela has many claims to greatness. But perhaps chief among them was the fact that when he took control of the country, he did everything in his power to accommodate and reassure the Afrikaners that they had an important place in the new South Africa. Imagine the pressures on Mandela from newly empowered blacks to treat these people, who had created apartheid, very differently. And yet he resisted and did what was right for his country and history. 

I would be remiss not to mention also Desmond Tutu as another important voice urging reconciliation, but regard for Mandela's voice was unparalleled in those critical times.

Mandela was not perfect. I don't think his praise of Fidel Castro was appropriate, for example. But such views and relationships should be viewed within the context of his decades long struggle and also the manner in which he led and governed, which respected liberty rather than resembling the rule of Castro.

I feel privileged to have shared time on the Earth while Nelson Mandela walked it.

Powerful Sculpture Marking Arrest of Mandela in 1962 and subsequent imprisonment

Update: As of August 27, 2013, Nelson Mandela's condition is reported as stable. I hope his quality of life is as good as possible.

Update: Nelson Mandela passed away on December 5, 2013. A great man's life came to an end, but his lessons endure.

Gordon Landwirth
GordonLandwirth.com
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