SubJeff on 6/12/2013 at 18:57
I know this was yesterday but this guy was one of my heroes. He did it and did it with so much goddamn grace. I don't think we'll have another like him for a long, long time.
My maternal family lived under apartheid , and only half of them failed the pencil test. If you know what that is you know what craziness that means. If you don't, you should look it up. It was unreal.
Last week I met a South African doctor, now living and working in England. He's what we call "Cape Coloured" and we chatted about his time at med school. They used to bring black patients in for the non-whites to examine and even if a white patient collapsed next to him he would have been jailed if he tried to help.
That was just a tiny part of the madness of apartheid SA, a madness that Mandela helped end.
RIP Nkosi.
faetal on 6/12/2013 at 19:03
Quote Posted by NuEffect
[T]he pencil test. If you know what that is you know what craziness that means. If you don't, you should look it up. It was unreal.
Fuuuuuuuuck.
Renault on 6/12/2013 at 21:08
Wow, I did have to look it up. It's incredible that something like the "pencil test" existed as recently as it did.
I knew he was up there, but I didn't know he was 95. I really don't know enough about his life as I'd like, and it's probably historical info everyone should know, so some reading may be in order. Does any kind of definitive biography/autobiography exist? I can google it, in any case, R.I.P.
faetal on 6/12/2013 at 21:35
A good documentary would be worth a punt too.
Nicker on 7/12/2013 at 01:42
A truly great person. The humanity to forgive those who tormented him and his loved ones, to look upon murderers with pity and not hatred. The courage not only to face the violence of apartheid but also to confront those who would seek revenge.
His model of Truth And Reconciliation added a powerful new tool to post colonial politics in the former European possessions and has been used here in Canada to begin real healing between the First Nations and the rest of Canada. Still a long way to freedom but Nelson Mandela cut a new path.
Mr. Mandela, we need a few thousand more of you in the halls of power.
Follow up to my remarks about Canadian First Nations relations here. It seems that apartheid was directly modeled on the reservation system used in Canada, to isolate and marginalise the Indians. I knew that Canada was one of the vocal opponents of the SA regime but I didn't know we were also an inspiration.
Queue on 7/12/2013 at 03:53
For what this man withstood, and for what he became, it pains me when morons here in the States scream, 'But he was a terrorist!'--or when even bigger missing-the-point-self-absorbed fools (
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/12/06/rick-santorum-compares-himself-to-nelson-mandela-fighting-against-the-apartheid-of-obamacare/) such as this invoke his name frivolously.
It's humbling to realize that the world we know today would most likely be quite a different and dirtier place if this one man hadn't existed. A portion of humanity and civilization actually became better because of the life of Nelson Mandela.
A strange irony is -- in accordance with SA law at the time -- he should have been hung instead of imprisoned for life. So it could said that the judge at his trial is the one who turned the knob on the door toward ending apartheid by not issuing a death sentence; a sentence that was expected and would have been the "appropriate" punishment.
Caradavin on 7/12/2013 at 06:21
I hate to say it and sound so cynical, but it's my nature; so, I really don't think we produce children these days who will ever be capable of what the greats were capable of - too much greed, too much coddling, too little hardships. Well, it might be possible that those from impoverished countries stand a chance to be something great, but only if they don't get sucked in by the nature of the United States. I'm not giving up, though. I plan to have a ranch that houses abandoned and abused animals and children who will benefit from each other's love. The children will also have daily work involving the animals, similar to what life on a farm would be like. Maybe there are others out there who are trying to raise children the right way, though, so maybe I am being too cynical, but my current experience with children and teens is that there is no hope for greatness in the future. It's all about money and possessions now.
On Nelson Mandela - I think he was amazing and his passing is just one of many that makes me feel we are heading towards a dark age, but that could be because I'm getting older or something.
Nicker on 7/12/2013 at 08:24
Quote Posted by Caradavin
On Nelson Mandela - I think he was amazing and his passing is just one of many that makes me feel we are heading towards a dark age, but that could be because I'm getting older or something.
Nope, you are absolutely right, the emerging generation have always been lazy, stupid, slovenly and more disrespectful than the previous generations. And their "music" is just noise.
Mandela was optimistic even though he had plenty of reasons to be more cynical about his fellow men than most of us. Even in darker ages there were rays of hope.
june gloom on 7/12/2013 at 12:54
Quote Posted by Queue
For what this man withstood, and for what he became, it pains me when morons here in the States scream, 'But he was a terrorist!'
I hear this so often from my mother who's been parroting it from conservative talk radio since the 90s and to date I have never, ever heard a solid justification for this claim. The usual claim I hear is either that he engaged in necklacing (even though he was in prison at the time) or that he signed off on terrorist bombings and never publicly renounced violence.
But I never find that adequate enough. And I question how he got labelled a terrorist in the first place considering what he was fighting against was one of the most abjectly evil political systems in history. The only reason that I can think of that isn't just simple racism is that the Apartheid government was anti-Communist and we have a long history of propping up despots based on their anti-Communism. So guys like Rush Limbaugh and the weirdos who publish the New American all parrot the same nonsensical claims because as we all know, WE ARE IN GRAVE DANGER FROM THE COMMUNISTS, OUR FREEDOM, OUR VERY WAY OF LIFE IS AT RISK, ALL THE TIME.
Can't believe I'm still awake.
