It is difficult to describe in a few words the inspirational arc of Nelson Mandela’s life. Even from afar, most people do not have the opportunity to witness greatness. But Mandela was a one-man refutation of the school of thinking that in the sweep of history, there is no such thing as exceptional individuals, but exceptional times, that events forge opportunities for action. Thus men take up a mantle of greatness that the times thrust upon them.
But Mandela’s distinctive achievement was not in the power of his eloquence, his courage in pursuing his dream of equality for blacks, or the dignity with which he bore his denigrating captivity at Robben Island. It was in his magnanimity of spirit, in his rejection of hatred for his oppressors and his insistence that the nation follow him in recognizing the depravity of the abuses of the apartheid era yet rejecting the path of recrimination that in so many other parts of the world has cemented generations of ethnic hatred and violence.
America did not support the anti-apartheid movement until it looked like a safe bet. As an apolitical college student, I was a detached observer in the mid-1970s of a roommate who was deeply involved in the Solidarity and the South African divestiture movement; among other things, she has spent a summer typing for the African National Congress. The US media largely ignored this struggle for black liberation, and when it did, it justified its support of the oppressors as standing against a Communist threat. But the US’s decision to support the divestiture movement in 1986, in part reflecting a desire to have access to South Africa’s mineral wealth, is credited with forcing South Africa down the path of ending the apartheid system.
I hope readers can will provide some tributes to Mandela, perhaps by supplying quotes from classic elegies. A sampling of media coverage:
Nelson Mandela death: South Africa and world mourn BBC
Nelson Mandela Dies Reuters. Live feed from South Africa.
Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s Liberator as Prisoner and President, Dies at 95 New York Times
A nation’s healer is dead Washington Post
Nelson Mandela: life in pictures Telegraph
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Mandela had guts. Here are some unsanitized observations: He backed the Palestinians. Mandela said, “We know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians.”
He was friends with Castro who backed the anti apartheid movement from the beginning and supplied military and medical support.
It also should be remembered that the CIA was responsible for his capture in 1962.
And Israel–the great backer of apartheid and the Botha regie- supplied South Africa with a nuclear weapon–fear of proliferation anyone?
One more thing–when the NY Times and others critized Mandela’s loyalty to Castro, he said “they can go to hell.”
Wow, I didnt know about Mandela and Castro!
I did know however about Mandela and Muammar Gaddhafi. When Mandela was criticized about his support for Gaddhafi, he said his detractors could ‘go jump in a pool’. Oh and Bill Clinton was standing behind him at the time, so thats amusing…
I believe the greatest compliment to Mandela would be to somehow spike the awful tide of Martin Luther King-style sanitization of him which is now taking place in the boss media and in the foul mouths of our esteemed great leaders.
And Israel–the great backer of apartheid and the Botha regie- supplied South Africa with a nuclear weapon–fear of proliferation anyone?
Don’t believe so. ZA made its own. Got link?
CodenameChalet.
Reported data only suggests that an approach was made by one party to supply the other.What the actual outcome was is not clear, and only one party is open about the revealing document. Here is a relevant link to a Guardian article,an often referenced journal at NC.Dated may 2010.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/may/23/israel-south-africa-nuclear-weapons
The Cuban played a critical role in the African liberation movement. In the Spring of 1988 they defeated the South African army at the battle of Cuinto Carnivale. Namibia soon became independent, the CIA backed insurgency in Angola became less effective, and the Afrikaner’s regime lost much of their legitimacy. I don’t endorse everything that Castro did. The victory of the Cubans at Cuinto Carnivale was the last battle of the Cold War. Most of the proxy CIA-KGB war in Africa was simply destructive. This battle was an exception. It had some long term positive effect
Yes Synoia, they made their own with blueprints from Israel! Israel supported the Apartheid regime as a God chosen nation like them, RSA was considered an independent white state in Africa – Independent Dutch South Africa!
This is Mandela’s fascinating speech at his 1964 trial for sabotage (which he admitted). It describes how the ANC was aware of the dangers of the country slipping into terrorism and how they pursued Gandhian tactics for several decades (which got them nowhere), then decided first on sabotage and finally moved into preparations for guerrilla warfare. But Mandela’s leadership kept Algerian-style race war off the table. The apartheid architects should thank their lucky stars for him and the fact that they still reside in SA.
http://www.juancole.com/2013/12/political-outlawed-sabotage.html
Dignity. Mandela will always remain my favorite example. he shared it freely and never so dearly do i need to take his share to heart… than the days ahead.
“Any man that tries to rob me of my dignity will lose.”
“I am fundamentally an optimist. Whether that comes from nature or nurture, I cannot say. Part of being optimistic is keeping one’s head pointed toward the sun, one’s feet moving forward. There were many dark moments when my faith in humanity was sorely tested, but I would not and could not give myself up to despair. That way lays defeat and death.”
Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom: Autobiography of Nelson Mandela
A fellow I know that emigrated from SA to work at ANL was an acquaintance of Mr. Mandela. His young daughter drew a portrait of him when he was POSA as he was kind enough to spend time with her and display the portrait in his office.
The measure of a civilized guy.
There were many dark moments when my faith in humanity was sorely tested, …
Is there no end to Biblical ignorance?
Thus says the Lord, “Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind and makes flesh his strength, and whose heart turns away from the Lord. Jeremiah 17:5
I’ll assume, for the moment, that the three indictments are independent or at least that the second and third do not necessarily follow from the first. Still that means that, at best, Nelson was 1/3 wrong wrt to Jeremiah 17:5.
I learned long ago that relying on people was a path strewn with disappointment but that relying on God was not.
When a man’s ways are pleasing to the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. Proverbs 16:7
There is no requirement that NC readers cite to any single authoritative source to support their views.
Hence, “biblical ignorance” is an ad hominem attack. Please avoid them.
I lived in Cape Town from 1976 through 1984. Prior to that I was at school in Zimbabwe (Rhodesia). Only a little over two decades on from his liberation … and I find myself thinking that Mandela fought in a different era. Already his days of miracles and wonders have given way to … those we know today. The social transformations ahead are perhaps even more daunting than those he fought and won. Yet he taught all HOW to fight: the resolve, the courage, and the unwavering integrity to a transpersonal objective that even total victory could not erode. And lets face it … the respect the world knows for this man is a result of two undeniable facts: everyone alive knows that this cesspit needs an overhaul, and everyone equally knows he/she IS actually up to his/her task. Nelson just played his part impeccably. His soul WILL rest in peace – no need for any good wishes from me. He is perhaps the only human being in my lifetime whose moral gravitas is guarantee.
Well said.
Mandela down-under
I am proud of the way radio CBC celebrated Mandela’s life. I listened to this broadcast ( http://www.cbc.ca/ideas/themandelatapes/ ) which covers his life partly in his own words.
Mandela’s life makes all our leaders today look sickly and wan.
I kind of feel like showing this video of Mandela and Gaddhafi’s great friendship. Because its sort of awesome.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEoK4KGMO54
Gaddhafi, for all his faults, was one of the few financers of the ANC during their darkest hours. As opposed to most other world leaders who considered them a terrorist organization.
One of Mandelas grandchildren was named Muammar, actually. And no thats not a common name in SA.
But I mostly posted that video because I sort of want to see yalls reaction to Mandela being buddy buddy with a dictator.
Its best not to confuse democratic trappings with democracy in general or good government.
Gaddafi was an enemy of U.S. imperial interests, and the U.S. was the chief ally of the apartheid regime in South African much like it still is the primary supporter of the Israeli regime. The two men had similar interests for their own countries regardless of their own morality.
I’m reminded of a forum in Africa which was set to feature Tony Blair and Desmond Tutu. When the Archbishop found out about Blair’s attendance, Tutu bowed out refusing to take the stage with a butcher.
I suspect long term people will hold up photos of Tony Blair (insert your own villain of the West) and Nelson Mandela and ask what is everyone’s reaction.
Personally, I hope Tutu takes the opportunity to speak out against American neo-colonialism and thuggery and to remind everyone organizations such as the CIA which dwell in secrecy helped imprison the man everyone is praising with a sanitized version of history.
Although, I want to point out I actually agree with Mandela’s sentiments on Gaddhafi. Between Gaddhafi and Blair… My god theres no comparison at all. Blair was far more a monster.
I almost forgot that Mandela once referred to Gaddhafi as ‘one of the great revolutionary leaders of our time’.
Yves, that is a beautifully written tribute.
I recall a wonderful half-page ad in the Cornell Sun in ’83 or ’84, when the endowment trustees were wringing their hands and warning of horrible consequences should the university divest in South Africa: a photo of a mine head with the caption “A Mine is a Terrible Thing to Waste.”
The US removed Mandela from the terrorist watch list in 2008.
Terrorist vs freedom fighter/patriot is a mercurial thing isn’t it?
At one time you could go through the Israeli Knesset and liberally apply the USG terrorist standard. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irgun
Now you might get Tazered to mention that in the hall of the US Government these days.
Here’s Mandela speaking for himself in 1961:
http://www.openculture.com/2013/12/nelson-mandelas-first-ever-tv-interview.html
Wonderful post and string.
Nelson Mandela also stood by Joe Slovo, ANC stalwart and communist, who was attacked for his communism throughout his life, but also in post-apartheid South Africa. Nelson Mandela stood by those who fought for freedom in South Africa.
There is another story to be told. Not today as we morn Nelson Mandela’s death and celebrate his life. But the story of how neoliberalism took over and destroyed the socialist or democratic socialist vision of the ANC. Economic apartheid is a dreary fact of life in South Africa. It didn’t have to work out that way. It was the result of a political counter-revolution.
This is my take as a person who followed the anti-apartheid movement in the newspapers, attended anti-apartheid demonstrations, signed petitions, and made small donations to anti-apartheid groups. But, I never studied the story or read books about it. So much to know ….
Judging from the Democratic Party’s behavior, I think when you get a racist party to develop the non-ethnically pure conservative types do look for something which will give them a home for their views. The ANC attracted blacks who would by Ayn Rand devotees if they were white and born in this country because they are attracted to the organization which can promise them power.
I suppose an element can be blamed on Mandela’s incarceration. When he came out of his office, he wasn’t in charge of an organization as much of a figure head who moved into the Presidency. He didn’t know the second tier or the people who came after he joined, and in many ways, he had morphed into a celebrity figure. Mandela was probably impressed by young, smooth talking people with an erudite way about them (cough Obama, Clinton, Blair and so forth) and didn’t recognize the danger of his organization while he was active because they would defer or prosperity from opening up South Africa distracted from many problems.
Then of course his health took over, and who knows what Mandela thought? Perhaps he couldn’t deal with having been conned?
Getting back to the decline of the ANC, Hillary Clinton was a Goldwater Girl, Liz Warren was a Republican for years, Harold Ford and Corey Booker are about as repulsive as people can get in politics without being out and out Palin supporters. Lets be honest, the GOP isn’t welcoming to people with their traits.
White guilt and understandable solidarity has prevented from being called out. My guess is without the shadow of Mandela the ANC is going to find critics everywhere, and they may even face a rapid fall without the promise of Mandela looking over the ANC’s shoulders.
In his essay “Reflections on Gandhi” George Orwell observed that one criticism of Gandhi that was seriously misplaced was his alleged failure to prevent Hindu-Muslim violence in the wake of Indian independence. That criticism, according to Orwell, seriously misread Gandhi’s aims which weren’t Hindu-Muslim harmony but the ending of British imperialism on the Indian subcontinent. In that respect his career was a resounding success.
Mandela’s career in some respects parallels Gandhi’s. He devoted his life to ending white minority rule in South Africa and he too enjoyed a resounding success. For that reason he can’t be accounted a failure because South Africans under the ANC aren’t living happily ever after .
I think Freedom at Midnight – Larry Collins, Dominique La Pierry clearly documents the work Gandhi undertook for Hindu Muslim unity. When India was about to be divided at the time of independence, Gandhi was steadfastly against it. He asked Nehru to relinquish his ambitions for the Prime Ministership of India to Mohammed Ali Jinnah (projected leader of Pakistan) so that India will remain one country. Jinnah had made this a condition, he had said that if Nehru and Gandhi wanted the Muslims to give up their request for a separate nation then Jinnah should be the first Prime Minister of India because that would be a strong message to Muslims that India meant business regarding religious harmony. Nehru refused and India was divided although there were other factors involved. It would be facile to say that this was the reason the nation was divided but it was one of the causes. On the day of independence, August 15, 1947, the entire nation was rejoicing while Gandhi was in Bengal undertaking a fast for Hindu-Mulsim riots to end. This is documented poignantly in the book. Gandhi was sound asleep as the clock struck the midnight hour and the hour of independence was ushered in. Gandhi paid the ultimate price for coming down on the side of the Mulsims in many a battle. Gandhi knew that only leaders like him could take a strong stand that protected the rights of minorities. He was assassinated by Hindu fanatic, Nathuram Godse whose mentor was Veer Savarkar. Veer Savarkar was one of the Godlike figures of the RSS(Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh – a Hindu fundamentalist group). The Bharatiya Janata Party, one of the main parties in India today is the political arm of the RSS. When they were in power in the 1980s they did everything to rewrite History to exonerate and salvage the name of Veer Savarkar and Nathuram Godse. So, Orwell, genius though he may be, was poorly informed about Gandhi and the Indian subcontinent.
Orwell himself wasn’t blaming Gandhi for failing to achieve Hindu-Muslim unity after the transfer of power. After all, the circumstances of his death–assassinated by a Hindu extremist–made his efforts in that area obvious to everyone. Orwell was criticizing those–chiefly disgruntled Anglo-Indians–who seized upon the religious conflict as an excuse to argue that Gandhi was a “failure” and, by implication, that independence for India was a failure.
BTW, Orwell himself was third generation Anglo-Indian, born in Bengal, his father in the ICS Opium Department (!). Orwell himself spent five years in Burma as an officer in the Imperial Police and later wrote a more-or-less autobiographical novel–Burmese Days–which is about as ferocious a denunciation of imperialism as you will ever read.
I am unable to write anything about Mandela because I only followed him thru the US media. I liked him like I like Castro. It would take another lifetime to read and research all the people who supported Mandela, all of whom remain out of the media. I would never indulge the fantasy that he survived because of his own strong character, though surely that is what led other people to admire him. This last year I couldn’t help but notice how beautiful he had become. A tall, slender, regal man with a goodness that radiated. And I found a certain peace of mind knowing he had gone back to his beautiful little village, his birthplace, to live out his days. I’m sure he is enjoying the fact that here in the US all our chickens are coming home to roost too.
The following may not be “popular”, but is interesting:
http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/12/06/mandela-a-dissenting-opinion/
Im afraid I have to agree with this, unfortunately. It was already my own opinion.
But at the same time, in reference to Sufferin Succotash above, he DID accomplish his main goal. That has to be respected.
No one is perfect.
But IMO, although he defeated white minority rule, it was replaced with the rule of a small number of black oligarchs, who are essentially puppets of foreign white people. *facepalm* The more things change, the more things stay the same.
Im honestly conflicted on Mandela.
Not only did Mandela face the seduction of the West, he was in prison. The ANC was dominated by people who had come into it after he was in prison. Mandela was in custody/prison from 1962 to 1990 after having nabbed by the CIA in its fight against the Soviets to an era of a major thaw between the West and East.
What energy did he have to carry out reforms especially when the class of young, educated blacks who had been on the outside are working against him and look like the new leaders of the West?
I liken it to MLK’s letter from the Birmingham Jail, and King notes for a long time he had thought the problem was the Bull Conners of the world. Only recently had he realized the problem was the “great white moderate” who seeks the negative peace. Yes, they are cloaked in safe terms and don’t join the lynch mobs thus having a seductive appeal because they offer the easy path. Did Mandela reach this point or level of understanding?
Clinton, Blair, Schroeder, democratic changes and growing capitalism in Asia, Yeltsin, and the fall of the Iron Curtain I think created an illusion which for which people fell.
Its nothing new. Booker T. Washington did important things, but in the end, he advocated a safe and incremental route to progress.
At the same time, Apartheid was ended with considerable outside support and U.S./Soviet cooperation. Jim Crow wasn’t ended by mass sanctions against the U.S. but by widespread opposition. I know U.S. history goes, “Rosa Parks, I have a Dream, Barack Obama,” but its so much gritty and full of villains, heroes, and people taking small actions which are forgotten.
Do I think its an utter disgrace Barack Obama, one of the largest purveyors of violence, will attend the funeral of Mandela and try to claim Mandela’s legacy of non violence as his own? Yes.
“Do I think its an utter disgrace Barack Obama, one of the largest purveyors of violence, will attend the funeral of Mandela and try to claim Mandela’s legacy of non violence as his own? Yes.”
Jonathan Cook may have provided an answer to that… “First, he (Mandela) was reinvented as a bloodless icon, one that other leaders could appropriate to legitimise their own claims, as the figureheads of the “democratic west”, to integrity and moral superiority. After finally being allowed to join the western “club”, he could be regularly paraded as proof of the club’s democratic credentials and its ethical sensibility.”
Everyone from Bill Clinton to Oprah is showing pictures of themselves next to Mandela, or referring to him by an intimate nickname reserved probably for his family and close friends and reminising about what a special relationship they they they had with him.
On the same topic, this other counterpunch article is even more interesting: http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/12/06/the-mandela-years-in-power/
“A thousand slights, a thousand indignities, an anger, a rebelliousness, a desire to fight the system that imprisoned my peope.”
Perhaps Mandela would not have cared much for all the eulogizing that will now go on in political venues, but for anyone who has not read it his autobiography “A Long Walk to Freedom” perhaps shows the life and wisdom of the man well and is worth reading.
Having been an antiapartheid activist since the 80s, I have to agree with the most of the comments here. Mandela was a great man, but he was mostly a figurehead for a movement that banded together many greats, who have not had the limelight of Madiba – Walter Sisulu, Oliver Tambo, Joe Slovo, Steve Biko, Desmond Tutu, the children of Soweto, to name but a few. Yes, he sacrificed many of the best years of his life; so did these others. And these others had the egolessness to realise that their movement needed a figurehead to inspire their fellow South Africans and the rest of the world.
Unfortunately, his time in power,and the subsequent ANC years of rule, have been a betrayal to all that these people fought for. Because aside from the few Black people that benefitted hugely, the majority are probably worse off as a result of the neoliberal agreements that Mandela’s team signed with the IMF and the international community.
One just has to witness the Obamas, Colin Powells, Camerons, Boris Johnsons and Blairs all falling over themselves to say what a wonderful guy he was. He was the ‘acceptable’ face of a revolution, because ultimately the ruling class retained their power in South Africa. Compare and contrast to Hugo Chavez.
who am I to eulogize someone like Mandela? whatever one is able to say, however well constructed, really kind of pales compared to the kind of person he was and his impact.
ohwell, I guess wordlessness is a kind of eulogy.
When we say America didn’t support the Apartheid movement, we’re talking more specifically White America to a large extent-the few who did only wanted a peaceful settlement. On the other hand, Black (American) folks were very supportive of the anti-apartheid movement, most specifically the right of the ANC to destroy apartheid “by any means neccesary”, including violence and force. Black Media was very supportive of the anti apartheid movement–Bob Law–WWRL radio talk show host, WLIB radio, and the Amsterdam News. Also the Village Voice back in the day when their journalism rocked.
I remember the anti apartheid march back in 85 or 86–the UN building to Central Park–great scene. Unfortunately, when we got there, we were treated to a speech from opportunist co-optation extraordinaire Jesse Jackson.
He seemed to be a good guy with a lot of fortitude. Too bad the grifters took the reins and turned SA into a bought-and-paid-for international money pit.
The parade of brazen hypocrites chanting his praises has begun. Witness the many and varied ‘leaders’ and ‘heads of state’ who now heap praise upon his head while probably shredding the old liquidate on sight orders. Disgusting.
The end of apartheid opened the flood gates for ethnic cleansing of the Caucasian settlers which predated the Bantu tribesman that came in the early 19th century. The Caucasian population has dwindled 80 percent since 1994 under the pressure of job disenfranchisement, school disenfranchisement, land disenfranchisement, and, in the context of racial politics voting in racial blocks, political disenfranchisement. The economy also collapsed incidentally.
Boy, ah sure wish thangs were like they usta be!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVMPlVBm29Y
Are you saying you prefer the status quo where Caucasians have been ethnically cleansed to the apartheid days when African migrants were meerely politically disenfranchised?
KPFK Pacifica Radio yesterday was playing a recorded speech of MAndela praising & thanking the U of CA system for divestment and the CA Longshoreman & Dockworkers whose members & unions stood in solidarity with the anti-apartheid leaders.
My own personal memories are of attending a 1986 packed Free Nelson Mandela concert at Clapham Common in London at which Winnie spoke to the crowd, Thatcher’s back yard! She & RR were to busy planning the wealth inequality system and promoting Rupert Murdock to give a toss about freedom in SA!
http://archive.kpfk.org/mp3/kpfk_131205_180010kpfknews.MP3
p.s. The longshoremen had refused to unload cargo/SA freight
I believe that Nelson Mandela was the greatest man of our time.
That is all
FROM SOUTH AFRICA TO SOUTH CAROLINA, WE’VE HEARD THE WORD
It is no surprise that many people in the USA have no idea who Mandela was, what the ANC was engaged in or what the whole media blanket coverage of the man is even about. Big deal, typical Americans, always that last to know. Especially so many of the money grubbing Phillistines who pompously fume on this site about the sweep of history. Surprisingly, much of the art which would give us a window out into the lives of the rest of the world is well known. South African exiles weren’t exactly a rare breed. Tony Byrd, an exile folk musician, sold records and sang about Apartheid. Doris Lessing, Tony Byrd, Es’kia Mphalale all exiles, all artists, all told of the oppression of South Africa. I saw Tony Bird sing, found his record and was taught by Dr. Mphalale and of course, read Doris Lessing for so many different stories. So, without being hectored or denounced, I could find my way through S. African politics easily enough, without wondering if I was being lied to or manipulated by the CIA.
At Ecology Food Coop in Powelton Village during the 1970’s, in Philadelphia, we had a political ban on products which followed the wishes of the people who produced the foodstuffs available to us at the food distribution center. No California grapes, due to the Huelga against the inhumane right wing California latifundia. And, no South African apples, the Granny Smith Apples that made its way into American supermarkets were being boycotted as part of the requested economic squeeze designed by the ANC leadership. Of course, after this small time sanction came the more hefty sanctions from corporate America. A local minister and dynamic community organizer, among many other political initiatives, drew up a set of principles for corporate America to sign onto in S Africa. Rev Leon Sullivan, for whom the principles were named, and the founder of OIC, helped Americans who lived in board rooms take notice of the racial system of apartheid and its destructive nature.
While the high and mighty from Harvard and Yale and the State Dept paid no attention, plenty of people in America knew all about South Africa and Sun City. Black ministers from Philly, food coops, college support groups, writers, musicians, all knew and transmitted the info throughout the culture.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KkQiCMdMH4
Gold from South African mines, granny smith apples, or a big time pay day for American rock stars, all were issues well known to those who were in touch with cultural trends in America outside of the VFW’s and local chambers of commerce.
WE WON’T PLAY SUN CITY
by THE ARTISTS UNITED AGAINST APARTHEID.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlMdYpnVOGQ
Since some of you won’t know or MAY not recognize the artists, it’s basically a catalog or rock and roll, rhythm and blues, rappers, jazz and punks, sweet soul singers, crooners, folkies from Dylan, to the Temptations, Darlene Love, Bonnie Raitt, Springsteen and his band mates, U2, Run DMC, Lou Reed too many to list.
From the novels of the 1950’s by Doris Lessing, to the music video of 1985, you would have to have your head so far up your ass not to know what was going on. But the sanctions and awareness spread resulting in one of the great political miracles of my lifetime. Nelson Mandela was a critical leader who made the right decisions, the alliances, survived long enough to be the face of the South African Freedom Movement. I am grateful for that accomplishment, it gives me hope. New movements are growing to tackle the world as it is now. You may want to look to music, or movies or some of the arts for the signs. People are always rattling the bars of the cage.
ROYALS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_WyB1Yunqw
Jeepers Paul, having one’s head up one’s ass has been the comfort zone of choice for the majority of Wonder Bread Americanskis. If they lived north of the Mason-Dixon Line most of them spent some 80 years not even aware of the apartheid in their own country. Jim Crow might as well have been happening on another planet.
This is the lesson of Emmett Till’s death. Till was a northerner who happened to be black. When it was just Southern blacks who were the victims, no one cared because it didn’t bother people in the North, but if Northerners could be the target, non-blacks have to worry to. The Klan hates Jews and Catholics too.
The man had 100s of people killed, including women and children. Idolize him if you want, I will not.
“The US media largely ignored this struggle for black liberation, and when it did, it justified its support of the oppressors as standing against a Communist threat.” Yves Smith
One should wonder why Communism would be a threat to any society, unless it is unjust.
But suppose Western style banker fascism is the lessor of the two evils and we had to defeat Communism before we tackled our own faults. Well, Communism has been defeated so then why haven’t we tackled those faults? The wealth needed to defeat the largest country in the world with huge natural resources and a talented and educated workforce was built, true, but unjustly via a government-backed credit cartel that favors the rich and other so-called creditworthies.
[ A Song of Ascents, of Solomon. ] Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman keeps awake in vain Psalm 127:1
As it stands, the US is the top contender for Babylon the Great (to be destroyed) and the “wine of her adultery”, our unethical money system.
Oh btw, the mistake of the Communists was their own completely unnecessary opposition to the Bible which, btw, commands submission to government and social justice as well.
The West had no need to oppose the Bible because it had Calvin and others to explain the Bible away wrt banking and yet others to divert attention away from the Old Testament*.
*But note that the Jews have only the Torah (OT) so that strategy could not work against them. Is this why Jews tend to be more liberal wrt economic justice?