Apartheid in South Africa through the perspective of Nelson Mandela

My perspective of Apartheid in my life

Apartheid? People ask around the world what this was and where did this terrible and humiliating racism happen, well it was happening in my beloved South Africa during 1948 to 1990 to me and all the black South Africans and even some whites that stood up to the government.

To me, apartheid was the most dehumanizing, humiliating and racist period of time for me and my fellow peers in South Africa and I wasn’t going to let these people get away with what they were doing but it was going to be a long struggle for freedom again. The struggle was mentality tough for me since most of my fellow peers look up to me as there leader for freedom in this beautiful land, but there was a slogan I remember and still use today that wanted me to lead us black South Africans back to freedom ‘who will watch the watcher’ I knew that if I did this for my fellow peers they will support what I was doing for this country.

During the time of apartheid, the dehumanizing government disallowed the right for many of us blacks to have an education which is happening all over the world, the right to travel from place to place, what jobs we were allowed to have, were we could sleep at night, poverty, deprivation, suffering, gender and the major one, they took away our freedom. Through most of this, I was fighting for the right for blacks to have freedom in prison for twenty seven years getting tortured, getting racist comments, and making me feel humiliate in prison. Those twenty seven years were the hardest and most mental challenging of my life, getting tortured from the guards everyday was just so challenging but I remember what was going on, on the outside of the prison and told my ‘you’re not doing this for yourself, you’re doing this for the others on the outside fighting for their freedom like me because a nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens, but its lowest ones”.

During my struggle in prison they took my freedom, makes you wear a uniform that’s the same as everyone else’s, eats the same food and follow the same schedule. It is by definition a purely authoritarian state that tolerates no independence or individuality. As a freedom fighter and as a man, one must fight against the prison’s attempt to rob me and others of these qualities. There was a time in prison where I had to swallow my pride and tell the colonel at the time Colonel Jacobs I would trade my long trousers for some company one even though it was extremely dehumanizing for me, there is only enough a pain and strain a man can take even if he is fighting for freedom for others before himself.

When it was time of the announcement of my release it came as a surprise to me. I had not been told that the reason Mr.de Klerk wanted to see me was to tell me that he was releasing me as a free man. I felt a conflict a between my blood and my brain. I deeply wanted to leave prison as soon as I could, but to do so on such short would be wise. I thanked Mr.de Klerk, and then said that as the risk of appearing ungrateful I would prefer to have a weeks notice in order that my family and my organization could be prepared for my release. Simply to walk out tomorrow, I said, would cause chaos. I asked Mr.de Klerk to release me a week from the day. After waiting twenty seven years, I could certainly wait another seven days.

After being elected the oldest president of South Africa, I finally achieved my goal of giving my fellow black South Africans their freedom and releasing them poverty, deprivation, suffering, gender and other discriminations. I felt as though there was still more to do for this country and even other country even though I achieved my goal, I feel as though that I should express my feeling of Apartheid to the whole world and make sure that it doesn’t happen again to my beloved South Africa and other countries, there is nothing good about tearing a race of people apart, all it will provoked is a war between a nation or a war between what colour your skin is. All people around the world should join to make a nation of brilliants that has no poverty, no deprivation, no suffering, no master power race or colour, no master gender and other discrimination so that the sun shall never set on so glorious of a human achievement.
“Let freedom reign. GOD BLESS AFRICA!

By Luke Panetta