Nelson Mandela's Legacy: Ending a Form of Modern Day Slavery in South Africa

We recently experienced the death of one the most important global leaders of our time, Nelson Mandela. He was one of the few people who truly stood for what he had to say, and sacrificed his freedom to achieve it. This earned him the title of a true leader and the love of billions of people across the world, which was expressed at his funeral and other celebrations of his life.

 

Nelson Mandela grew up in a society in which blacks and whites were considered different class citizens of South Africa. His life was closely related to the history of racial segregation and struggles throughout South Africa. Before he had gained power, he was a part of a group called African National Congress (ANC), which supported and fought for the rights of South Africa's native black population.

As the resistance against the unfair treatment of black South Africans grew. Nelson and other members of the ANC board were arrested and were sentenced a lifetime to prison in the Rivonia trial. However even from within his cell, he continued to fight and became the symbol of the evil behind racial segregation that kept him in jail. He was one of the most famous prisoners in the world and was supported on his release globally. There was even a famous song called Free Nelson Mandela. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgcTvoWjZJU

Overall, Nelson had spent 27 years in jail and didn't even fuss about it. He remained true to his belief that change to South Africa's apartheid system must be achieved peacefully with both black and white support and  he stayed poised and positive.

 

 Once he was freed he was elected as the first black president of South Africa and maintained equal rights between all ethnicities. He even forgave those who kept him in jail including President F.W. De Klerk. They had won the Nobel Peace Prize for their peaceful transition to freedom for black South Africans

 

 

In our history class, one of the topics is modern day slavery. We had learned many ways of slavery that you wouldn't even have expected still existed in the 21st century. Nelson Mandela was able to end one form of slavery in South Africa, but sadly the world still has a long way to go to achieve an end to slavery everywhere.

 

 

Citations: 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/denzel-cummings/nelson-mandela-a-leaders-legacy_b_4450255.html

http://www.sabc.co.za/news/a/a93fa100402b7b0faa80aace3e3f709b/De-Klerk-returns-to-SA-over-Madiba-

http://www.ezakwantu.com/Gallery%20Nelson%20Mandela%20-%20Madiba.htm

http://www.thephuketnews.com/phuket-mandela-laid-to-rest-43447.php

http://www.essence.com/package/nelson-mandela-rip/