#mandelamedia

[124globalsociology]

US labeled Mandela a terrorist until 2008

#mandelamedia

“Until 2008, the United States had placed him and other members of the African National Congress on its terror list because of their militant fight against the apartheid regime." 

-quote from a 2013 CNN article titled, "Nelson Mandela, anti-apartheid icon and father of modern South Africa, dies”: https://www.cnn.com/2013/12/05/world/africa/nelson-mandela/index.html

This article reflected the rhetoric of most of the media covering the breaking news of Mandela’s death. News sources that I found all emphasized that he was inspirational, that he fought against apartheid, that he was imprisoned for many years, and that he served as the President of South Africa. Consistently, the media presented Mandela in a positive light. 

This quote stood out to me because the US stance that Mandela was a terrorist stands in stark contrast to the rest of the worlds’ interpretation of him. In fact, Mandela was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize. While the US appears to have tolerated Mandela after 2008, this quote reveals how the US supports racist regimes and sees freedom fighters like Mandela as a threat. 

For me, it also calls into question the use by the US of the label ‘terrorist’. Are other 'terrorists’ actually morally-sound freedom fighters like Mandela? Are they using militant strategies, as Mandela did, because they’ve been left no other option in the struggle against oppression and US imperialism?

Submitted by Dunya

[124globalsociology]

I found this to be very interesting. How can this happen with such a significant person who continued to be a inspiration outside the walls of his jail cell? Is this a way that black martyrs and symbols for the struggle against racial oppression are trivialized? Or a common mistake?

Submitted by Preston

[124globalsociology]

News of Mandela’s death in the UK media.

- submitted by Laetitia

[124globalsociology]

What stood up to me the most is how all of these journal papers are portraying him as an hero or saver but yet, Mandela was on the U.S terrorism list.

#mandelamedia

[124globalsociology]

New York Times Coverage of Nelson Mandela's Death

https://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/06/world/africa/nelson-mandela_obit.html?ref=international-home

“Except for a youthful flirtation with black nationalism, he seemed to have genuinely transcended the racial passions that tore at his country.”

When I was reading this New York Times article on Nelson Mandela's death I found the statement above, in particular certain wordings used to be interesting. Wordings like “Flirtation with Black Nationalism” “racial passions that tore at his country" seems to covey even though he was a black nationalist in his youth, he moved passed the nationalism to fix the racial tensions of South Africa or "passions." 

In putting his Nationalist past and racial passions together the New York Times suggests both Black and White south Africans were to blame for the ethnocentrism, racism, and nationalism during Apartheid. 

- Submitted by Enku