Mandela’s Reconciliation “Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies”(citation). After 27 years of incarceration by his apartheid enemies, Nelson Mandela emerged into society as a forgiving man. Even once he became president and instituted his own policies, Mandela remained a magnanimous person. Mandela strongly felt that once his goal was achieved, it was not necessary to beat down the people who had oppressed him. Like Mohandas Gandhi, Mandela believed in civil disobedience as a means of reforming government and was always willing to put his life on the line as he states in this quote, “Real leaders must be ready to sacrifice all for the freedom of their people” (qtd. in “Trials and Prison”). Despite persecution …show more content…
With their new group, Mr. Mandela and his confederates organized peaceful protests, boycotts, and strikes to counter new segregation laws implemented by the white led, National Party government. For his actions during this time, Mandela was put on the executive committee of the ANC and continued his leadership by organizing and carrying out the Defiance Campaign that led large scale, passive resistance protests and gained a considerable amount of support for the ANC’s cause (de …show more content…
Following the massacre, the apartheids banned anti-government groups such as the ANC which forced the movement to go underground and arrested group leaders including Mandela who was kept in jail for months but was eventually acquitted of charges. Mandela sensed that the movement might turn violent after repeated peaceful dissent had failed as he stated at a secret gathering, "If the government reaction is to crush by naked force our non-violent struggle, we will have to reconsider our tactics. In my mind we are closing a chapter on this question of a non-violent policy" (citation) and subsequently organized the Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation) to be