Nelson Mandela : Long Walk to Freedom summary
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Answer:
Nelson Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
Explanation:
On 10th May Nelson Mandela took the oath as South Africa’s first Black President after more than three centuries of White rule.
Many dignitaries and political figures from several countries had attended the inauguration ceremony that took place in the Union Buildings amphitheatre in Pretoria. In his speech, Mandela addressed all dignitaries respectfully and assured his fellow countrymen that his country would never experience similar suppression by one group over another. While vowing as the first black President, he established democracy in the country and said there would be no discrimination of people, irrespective of caste, colour, creed or race. He assured that the government would always treat all the people of the country with due respect and equality.
The lovely day of inauguration was symbolic for Mandela as the South African people sang two national anthems – the vision of whites sang ‘Nkosi Sikelel –iAfrika’ and the blacks sang ‘Die Stem’, the old anthem of the Republic. All these events reminded Mandela how the black-skinned people were exploited by the white people earlier. He deeply felt the pain of his race and said that this type of suppression and racial domination of the white-skinned people against the dark-skinned people on their own land gave rise to one of the harshest and most inhumane societies the world had ever seen or known. He strongly believed that no person is born to hate the other person on the basis of skin colour, background or religion. Although people must learn to hate initially, because if they learn to hate, they can be taught to love as well, as love comes more naturally to humans than hate. He also mentioned how a person becomes brave, not because he does not feel afraid, but because he knows how to conquer his fears.
Furthermore, Mandela stated that every man in life has two major obligations. The first one being towards his family i.e, parents, wife and children and the second obligation towards his motherland, countrymen and his community. Everyone is able to fulfil those obligations according to his own interests and inclinations. However, it was difficult to fulfil both these obligations as a black man in a country like South Africa before the democratic wave took over the nation by storm. When Mandela became an adult, he realised that freedom was merely an illusion and temporary in nature for the black-skinned people of his country. He felt that they were treated as slaves of exploitation and all the people of his race were treated unfairly by the white-skinned people.
According to Mandela, freedom was indivisible for all. But the people of his colour and race were bound in chains of oppression and tyranny. He knew that the oppressor must be liberated just like the oppressed because a person who snatches another’s freedom is also a prisoner of similar oppression. Thus, the oppressor is not free too and feels shackled in the chains of oppression himself.