Question

i was not unmindful of the fact that so many years before they would not have saluted but not arrest me.
(1) whom do “I” and “They” refer to here?
(2) why would they have arrested the speaker a few years ago?
(3) why did they salute the speaker then?
(4) what do the word 'not so many years before' tell us?

pls, Pls, answer this question​

Answer 1

☯$\huge{\mathtt{\purple{Q}\green{U}\pink{E}\blue{S}\purple{T}\red{I}\pink{O}\blue{N}}}$☯

I was not unmindful of the fact that so many years before they would not have saluted but arrested me.

1. Whom do "I" and "they" refer to here?
2. Why would they have arrested the speaker a few years ago?
3. Why did they salute the speaker then?
4. What do the word 'not so many years before' tell us?

☯$\huge{\mathtt{\purple{A}\green{N}\pink{S}\blue{W}\purple{E}\red{R}}}$☯

1. Here, "I" refers to Nelson Mandela and "they" refer to the military generals and police.
2. They would have arrested the speaker a few years ago because a few years ago during the period when apartheid was prevalent in South Africa many people were against it and wanted to end the White Supremacy and Nelson Mandela was one of those peoples.
3. They saluted the speaker because a new, non-racial government was elected and Mandela was the then President of South Africa.
4. The words 'not so many years before' tell us that a few decades before the election of a non-racial, democratic government the system of apartheid was prevalent in South Africa which facilitated the domination of the Whites over the native blacks.

Answer 2

When the military generals saluted Mandela, he was not unmindful of the fact that not too many years ago, they would not have saluted him, but arrested him. This change in attitude was due to the fact that a new, non-racial government was elected and Mandela was then the President of South Africa