My Close Encounter with Mandela

I met the two faces of Nelson Mandela through two South Africans I met while I was living and working on a Kibbutz in Israel; I was a 19 year old naïve and unaware young man.

To say I was politically aware and astute at that age would be grossly inaccurate. I was opinionated and had an answer for everything. After all, I was the riding President of the Young Progressive Conservatives and read the news. Living on the Kibbutz changed my worldview. The discussions surrounding racism and the nature of political and moral leadership, as demonstrated by Mandela, played a key role.

On the Kibbutz were two young South Africans: one young white man whose father owned a huge ranch and the other was a young, brilliant and beautiful coloured woman who was facing arrest should she return to South Africa. The one thought Mandela was a terrorist and believed that Blacks were unable to govern themselves let alone manage a business or the government. The other believed that one class of individuals should not, nor ought to be, ruled and oppressed by another group of individuals.

My male friend struggled with the morality of apartheid but was convinced from a pragmatic governance perspective that apartheid was necessary to stave off chaos and preserve the status quo. My female friend believed that all individuals were created equal and should not be oppressed because of the colour of their skin. She believed in equality of opportunity and the opportunity to succeed and fail.

For a white boy from Canada, the ideas and passion were eye opening. I no longer remember the details of the conversations, but I do remember coming away wondering how one man can inspire two people resulting in radically different outcomes: in one he inspired fear and loathing, in the other hope and courage.

Mandela was a prophetic voice crying out for justice. In his role he embodied grace, dignity, forgiveness, and determination as he worked to see justice done in South Africa. His leadership, and the leadership he in turn inspired in men such a Desmond Tutu to implement a new vision, a new purpose to bring healing to a truly dysfunctional land.

History raises up men and women who are both shaped by the events of their time and in turn shape the events of their time. Such men and women are special and Mandela was one of them.