NELSON MANDELA - 90TH BIRTHDAY July 17, 2008
Posted by frostygirl in News.Tags: birthday, mandela, nelson
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Nelson Mandela is celebrating his 90th birthday on 18 July 2008 and when you look at the man you cannot help thinking about his life.
The world is lifting him up and making him into an idol, which is not right, but he remains a humble man and it seems that his main concern is to help children through his children’s fund.
They say that you can only know what a persons life is like after you have walked a mile in their shoes.
As a white female I tried to visualize what it must have been like for Nelson Mandela in his beloved country, South Africa, being oppressed by racism, but I failed horribly because I just cannot know what it was like because we as whites just take too much for granted.
I heard him say the following when he was addressing a crowd of people: “I do not believe in blacks being dominated by whites…..(lots of cheering) ….I do not believe in whites being dominated by blacks…..(less cheering)….. I believe in democracy!”
As a young man he had ideals and was prepared to fight and die for them, apparently he first tried the passive, peaceful route and when that was not successful his organisation decided to fight for the right to be equal. Many men go to war and kill for what they believe in and if it is such a moral issue it is difficult to condemn them because they believe in their hearts that they are right. Innocent people always die in a war and a lot of innocent people died on both sides during this struggle for equality. I do not believe in war, but it is a fact of life in this world!
It is amazing how things turned out! When Nelson Mandela was found guilty by the State he was supposed to get the death sentence (by hanging), but apparently at the time Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd changed it to a life sentence! At the time he did not know that Nelson Mandela was destined for something great in the future and could not die then!
Nelson Mandela could have become a bitter and vengeful man after spending so many years of his life in prison, under bad circumstances for most of the time, but he came out with a smile and a hand of peace held out to all South Africans. He is a humble man, but a strong man who is not afraid to stand up for what he believes in.
I would like to know what he is thinking now when he sees what has become of South Africa! His dream of having all South Africans equal has not been realized as the black ANC government now dominates the other race groups in the country with Black Empowerment and Affirmative Action causing inequality! What a shame, it could have been so different. Democracy does not work!
What a pity he did not have age on his side so that he could have had a second term in the office as President, I believe it would have made a huge difference to this country.
Happy birthday Madiba, may you still have many years left to enjoy the freedom and peace you strove for, for so many years!
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