“Was it really that bad?”
I’ve even heard someone say “Mandela did nothing for me”.
The struggle for the suffrage of black South Africans in the apartheid regime was a long a bloody one.
And as much as there were many activists who took against the government of the time, there were also many oppressed South Africans who did nothing.
Not every black person was active in the struggle.
You would think that this is a given, but most of us assume that everyone was up in arms 24/7.
This is why the sacrifice of those who put their lives on the line, daily, deserve a bit of a fuss.
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was a charming law graduate, an achievement that most black South Africans couldn’t even dream of at the time.
He was a social activist when being a politician wasn’t fancy.
I know if I were him, I would have considered the many opportunities that would help to escape the oppression overseas.
Even if he chose to stay in the country, I am pretty sure he could have secured a good life for his family, outside politics.
But Mandela was never satisfied with just being ‘okay’ while many other people suffered.
And that is the sacrifice.
The irony of a lawyer who was always running from the hand of the law.
A man who would rather live as a fugitive, when all he had to do was ‘shut up’ and live his life.
There are numerous social injustices that we claim to be against yet we have done absolutely nothing to fight them.
We can barely sign petitions.
Perhaps the reason we choose not to endorse the extent of Tata’s sacrifice is because it would expose the lack of own sacrifice.
#mandeladay #67min
Follow us on our social media platforms:
