Friday

I was surprised to find my eyes tearing up throughout each chapter of this book. I did some self psychoanalyzing to try and figure out my emotional response behind this story of a struggling man (Nelson Mandela) under Apartheid in South Africa. I have determined that the tears come from frustration. People that see color as a reason to feel superior and disrespect others, then use force and unjust laws to further their beliefs is unconscionable. The ends which people will go to see others fail, marginalized, and brutalized rends my heart.
Just last week one of the major characters in this book was murdered in a dispute with two workers, Eugene Terreblanche. From a couple of articles that I have read the respect that Mandela struggled to achieve from both sides is tenuous and faltering. Hate filled rhetoric fans the flames of people that are already harboring jealousy, mistrust, guilt, and shame.

This book details the events that led to the Rugby World Cup being held in South Africa in 1995. Nelson Mandela went from being the organizer of the military wing of the ANC that was formed to stop the white led government of the Afrikaners to being incarcerated for 27 years. Mandela was never idle during his incarceration. He used the time to craft political and social ways to fight apartheid. He learned to speak Afrikaans and learned the history of the boers along with the rules of the game that ruled their hearts, rugby. He knew that respect and that love of rugby could unite a nation divided by color and a history of brutal and unjust laws. The change in the hearts and actions of many of the people in this book was inspiring. It is that shining moment when people can be more than they realize and rise above the base nature that many allow themselves to wallow. I just wish those shining moments were not so brief. This quote came to mind and the attribution I found was to Maya Angelou:
"At the time, I did what I knew to do, and when I knew better, I did better."

I think that is why my love for history and reading is so strong. I know I have a lot of room to do better and be better. I recommend this book, along with a box of tissues.