Nelson Mandela: A Very Short Introduction
Nelson Mandela is undeniably considered one of the most important politicians in terms of desegregation. The bottom line is that, he tried to make a change in the name of justice and was wrongfully punished for it, so much so, that he ended up spending 27 years in the South African prison. His name became very popular amongst the whole world, although he did remain faceless because pictures were prohibited in the prisons. South Africa, up until around the 90s, was an empire, ruled by a supreme authority that was set on freeing the land of anyone that wasn’t white. The real question is, why is Nelson Mandela such a household name across the world? Most of his achievements were set in South Africa, and although what he did was unbelievable, and not for the faint-hearted, why is he recognized as an international icon? By no means are these questions aimed at discrediting the accomplishments of someone who changed South Africa forever, but more to understand why other people who were directly involved weren’t recognized any further than a quick mention, or a brief side note. This sole purpose of this paper will be to define Nelson Mandela’s accomplishments, and determine why he is as highly regarded as he is.
In the 1940’s, the beginning of the worst started when the Afrikaner national party won the election, leading it with their campaign slogan, Apartheid, translates to “separateness”. The mission of these people was to separate the white’s from all of the other skin colors, making South Africa a white supremacy. Interestingly enough, the whites were not even close to a majority, the blacks were the majority by far, followed by the Asian, which were considered the Pakistanians or the Indians. The white government made countless steps in the direction of becoming a white supremacy, like marking 80 percent of all of the land as white land. They created segregated developments, even communities,...