Mandela and Rugby

When one thinks of sports like basketball and football some may think of a sport dominated by Blacks or African-Americans but when one thinks of rugby, the thoughts won’t be the same. One will more than likely think of a predominantly white, South African or European game. Let’s center our focus on South Africa though; rugby has played a major role within the white population of South Africa. Due to their team’s great deal of success between the lines of the rugby field, the “Afrikaners” take a lot of pride in this sport. Unfortunately, the sport has been complicatedly tangled with years of injustice and apartheid.
Apartheid, the system of segregation and discrimination based upon race or color of one’s skin that had South Africa torn. Apartheid had been the cause of many battles of race and battles for equality. Nelson Mandela became the solution and the man credited for reuniting the country. Ironically he used the vehicle of Rugby, mind you a sport prided by the white Afrikaners to do so.
Mandela, who was born into apartheid, is well known for being imprisoned for nearly three decades of his life and after being released became the Nation’s President in South Africa. Most of the black population sided with Mandela but most of the white population was Anti-Mandela. He relentlessly tried to use traditional politics to bring the country together but still struggled. When he began to show his love for rugby Mandela was suddenly boo’ed and looked at differently in the eyes of the black population. Mandela had vowed to bring the Rugby World cup to South Africa and he did just that. Although the team only had one person of color on its roster, the Springboks soon gained fans of all races especially when the team beat the New Zealand All Blacks in the championship. Following the game, Mandela shook hands the captain of the Springboks which highlighted and symbolized the Country’s new unity.
The Springboks were no longer considered a team that belonged just the whites, the black population took pride in the sport as well and it’s nations team and the Springboks soon became the country’s team. Mandela used rugby to heal and transform a country made ugly by violence and hate. As Mandela would put it, “Sport has the ability to change the world. It has the power to inspire, the power to unite people that little else has ... It is more powerful than governments in breaking down racial barriers."
So now when one thinks of rugby, they think of the New Zealand All blacks probably, but also a Black man, Nelson Mandela who reunited a deeply divided country by apartheid by using the sport rugby.