Nelson Mandela and Apartheid
Apartheid is basically a political system where white South Africans ruled. Just so you know, Apartheid means "apartness" or "separateness" in the Afrikaans language.
This political system allowed the small, white population of South Africa to control the country's large, black population.
However this political system was a bad idea because it made most of the black South Africans poor during apartheid. And it also gave them very few rights. And as a result they couldn't vote or live near the whites, which I believe is a very rascist type of idea. Also the worst thing that happened here was that millions were forced to live in shacks in shantytowns because of this separation.
Although there was a great person who didn't like this political system and made a difference. And that person's name is Nelson Mandela.
When Mandela was living his life as a young man, he faced difficulty in life just like us. But his experiences are worse than us because he was a black young man. And under apartheid, black people couldn’t vote or hold certain jobs during those years. And when the whites controlled the government, the Blacks where separated from them and lived in separate areas and also went to different schools, which are less nicer than the white schools. I believe this is the most worse racism that happened for the blacks, which is really a bad and sad thing for them.
So Mandela on the other hand, opposed this system because it was cruel and unfair. But In 1944, everything changed when Mandela joined a group called the African National Congress (ANC). This Congress opposed the rule of South Africa where the whites alone had the most opportunities. This congress was a great one because they believed that South Africa belonged to everyone, whatever the color of their skin. And I believe that's a good thing.
The reason why people especially the Africans, like Mandela so much and became a hero was because he was a good leader in the ANC and a gifted speaker who encouraged people to break the apartheid laws. However the government saw Mandela as a trouble maker who tried to stop him. But even though he was arrested several times and was put to prison he still believed that the possibility of freedom and independence will happen. So Mandela continued to fight despite he was being slowed down by the government. And after he was released he still fought for an end to apartheid. The people really saw his courage, confidence, and strength that even though the government sentenced him to five years in prison (1962), was accused of working to overthrow the government (1964), and where his sentence-to-life in prison increased, he still never stop fighting.
In fact during his time in prison, he became the world's most famous political prisoner, which as a result leaders around the world demanded Mandela's freedom because they believe in independence and wanted apartheid in South Africa to end.
This then became the beginning of the protest in the streets against apartheid.
Mandela became a truly great leader when the government couldn't stop the trouble, and he was the only one who could. And also for being very popular for winning the support of many South Africans. This became the result of his released in prison in 1990 after spending 27 years there. For this reason, he became the leader of ANC in 1992, which was the time he had all the opportunity of ending apartheid.
Many white people were worried about this at first because they thought they will get in trouble when the blacks will be given equal rights. When Mandela worked with South Africa's president, he was able to promote peaceful relations between blacks and whites in which they both won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.
In 1994 the years of excitement and happiness started to happen because for the first time in South Africa's history, men and women of all races could already vote. This was also the time when Mandela became the first black president of South Africa and brought an end to the hated apartheid system.
These are the valuable events and some reasons why people like him so much. And for doing and achieving these great things, he is certainly considered to be a hero.
This political system allowed the small, white population of South Africa to control the country's large, black population.
However this political system was a bad idea because it made most of the black South Africans poor during apartheid. And it also gave them very few rights. And as a result they couldn't vote or live near the whites, which I believe is a very rascist type of idea. Also the worst thing that happened here was that millions were forced to live in shacks in shantytowns because of this separation.
Although there was a great person who didn't like this political system and made a difference. And that person's name is Nelson Mandela.
When Mandela was living his life as a young man, he faced difficulty in life just like us. But his experiences are worse than us because he was a black young man. And under apartheid, black people couldn’t vote or hold certain jobs during those years. And when the whites controlled the government, the Blacks where separated from them and lived in separate areas and also went to different schools, which are less nicer than the white schools. I believe this is the most worse racism that happened for the blacks, which is really a bad and sad thing for them.
So Mandela on the other hand, opposed this system because it was cruel and unfair. But In 1944, everything changed when Mandela joined a group called the African National Congress (ANC). This Congress opposed the rule of South Africa where the whites alone had the most opportunities. This congress was a great one because they believed that South Africa belonged to everyone, whatever the color of their skin. And I believe that's a good thing.
The reason why people especially the Africans, like Mandela so much and became a hero was because he was a good leader in the ANC and a gifted speaker who encouraged people to break the apartheid laws. However the government saw Mandela as a trouble maker who tried to stop him. But even though he was arrested several times and was put to prison he still believed that the possibility of freedom and independence will happen. So Mandela continued to fight despite he was being slowed down by the government. And after he was released he still fought for an end to apartheid. The people really saw his courage, confidence, and strength that even though the government sentenced him to five years in prison (1962), was accused of working to overthrow the government (1964), and where his sentence-to-life in prison increased, he still never stop fighting.
In fact during his time in prison, he became the world's most famous political prisoner, which as a result leaders around the world demanded Mandela's freedom because they believe in independence and wanted apartheid in South Africa to end.
This then became the beginning of the protest in the streets against apartheid.
Mandela became a truly great leader when the government couldn't stop the trouble, and he was the only one who could. And also for being very popular for winning the support of many South Africans. This became the result of his released in prison in 1990 after spending 27 years there. For this reason, he became the leader of ANC in 1992, which was the time he had all the opportunity of ending apartheid.
Many white people were worried about this at first because they thought they will get in trouble when the blacks will be given equal rights. When Mandela worked with South Africa's president, he was able to promote peaceful relations between blacks and whites in which they both won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.
In 1994 the years of excitement and happiness started to happen because for the first time in South Africa's history, men and women of all races could already vote. This was also the time when Mandela became the first black president of South Africa and brought an end to the hated apartheid system.
These are the valuable events and some reasons why people like him so much. And for doing and achieving these great things, he is certainly considered to be a hero.
