How much do you know about apartheid in South Africa? If you want to learn more, Nelson Mandela's (1918-2013) autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom (1994), is a good place to start. Mandela explores themes of racism and inequality as he details his own suffering under the apartheid regime. Today, Mandela's quotes are recognised globally, and he is known as one of the most important activists of the twentieth century.
Apartheid: the Afrikaans words for the concept of 'apartness'. Introduced in South Africa in 1948, apartheid took the form of laws of racial segregation. These forced South Africans of colour into separate employment, education and housing. They were severely discriminated against by the state, and this caused civil unrest. Apartheid was finally brought to an end in 1994 after much campaigning.
Long Walk to Freedom: summary
To open our summary, we will first consider Nelson Mandela's representation of his childhood in his autobiography. He was born in 1918 in the town of Mvezo, part of the Thembu tribe. Mandela's father was a leader in the Thembu community. Mandela's birth name was 'Rolihlahla', which translates to 'troublemaker', and he was raised according to Xhosa customs.
Mandela's father lost his prestigious position as a community leader and advisor in 1926, which made the family's financial situation much more precarious. A devout Christian, Mandela's mother sent him to a religious school where he was given the name 'Nelson'. This was a common practice in South Africa at the time due to the after-effects of British colonialism. Mandela's father passed away when he was nine, and he was raised solely by his mother from this time on.
Xhosa people: an ethnic group in Africa, mostly located in South Africa. Xhosa people have their own language and various unique customs. These include a reliance on community elders and a belief in the powers of ritual and celebration. It is also common for Xhosa men to have multiple wives.
Mandela attended Clarkebury boarding school and the University of Fort Hare. He then moved to Johannesburg to study law. While there, Mandela was exposed to political activism. He had grown up aware of the inequalities in South African society but was now being made much more aware of them. Black South Africans were subordinated and treated like second-class citizens.
Mandela became heavily involved with the African National Congress (ANC), an activist group founded in 1912 to fight racial discrimination. The ANC later became a major political party in South Africa. Mandela founded a youth branch of the ANC, which focused heavily on activism. He also set up his own legal practice that was frequented by many Black South Africans who were being unfairly prosecuted by racist judiciaries.
Fact! Part of the reason Mandela moved from his hometown to Johannesburg was to avoid an arranged marriage.
Mandela was arrested multiple times in 1952, 1956 and 1960 for his activism, which was seen as treason. He and other members of the ANC were viewed as a threat to the ruling class of South Africa. Neither of these arrests led to a prison sentence for Mandela, but he had to live under the radar from this moment on as he was at constant risk of being arrested again.
Mandela's experiences led him to believe that sustained, and sometimes violent, resistance was the only way for Black South Africans to ever truly be free. Mandela spent the next few years undercover and helped to found a paramilitary branch of the ANC entitled Umkhonto We Sizwe, which translates to The Spear of the Nation. This group engaged in violent resistance and bombings under Mandela's direction. He also secretly travelled outside the country to receive military training and garner international support for the anti-apartheid movement.
Fig. 1 - This is Mandela in his later years.
However, in 1962, Mandela was captured and arrested again by South African forces. He was charged with inciting strikes and leaving the country illegally. Mandela was initially sentenced to five years in prison which was soon extended to a life sentence. The arrest of anti-apartheid activists like Mandela had become international news, with many countries supporting them and imposing sanctions on South Africa.
Mandela spent a substantial amount of his prison sentence on the notorious Robben Island.
The prison was known for its cruelty towards its Black prisoners. They received worse treatment and food than their white counterparts and also had to do backbreaking labour. Despite these difficulties, Mandela maintained secret contact with the ANC and continued to organise. He even led a successful strike within the prison, protesting against the inhumane conditions. Mandela educated other prisoners about the anti-apartheid movement.
Mandela's relentless activism caused great strain in his personal life. His first wife, Evelyn Mase (1922-2004), left him in the late 1950s because his devotion to the revolutionary cause led to Mandela being frequently absent from the home, leaving Evelyn to care for their children. Mandela's second wife, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela (1936-2018), was much more politically involved. She, too, was a supporter of the anti-apartheid movement, finding herself in prison multiple times while Mandela was on Robben Island. However, the two split in the early 1990s as Winnie's politics had become too radical, condoning extreme violence.
Outside of Robben Island, the Umkhonto We Sizwe had increased their violent resistance and there were increased calls from the international community for Mandela to be released. Apartheid South Africa had begun to fall apart, with mass protests occurring. In 1985, the government offered Mandela his freedom on the basis that he renounced the violent aspect of the anti-apartheid struggle, but Mandela refused. He was eventually released in 1990 after beginning peace negotiations while still imprisoned.
Mandela was released to mass fanfare, now an icon of the anti-apartheid movement. The ANC distanced themselves from more violent activism in 1990 after mass violence broke out in South Africa, both between pro and anti-apartheid movements and between various tribes. Mandela met with the South African president F.W. de Klerk (1936-2021) various times, with the two signing an important Record of Understanding. Both men committed to holding democratic elections in South Africa. The ANC won the 1994 elections by a landslide, with Nelson Mandela being made South Africa's first Black president. Long Walk to Freedom ends just before Mandela takes office. He concludes his autobiography with the below quote.
I have walked that long road to freedom. I have tried not to falter; I have made missteps along the way. But I have discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb. I have taken a moment here to rest, to steal a view of the glorious vista that surrounds me, to look back on the distance I have come. But I can rest only for a moment, for with freedom come responsibilities, and I dare not linger, for my long walk is not yet ended. (Part 11)
Long Walk to Freedom: book
Long Walk to Freedom is an autobiographical book.
Autobiography: a text written by a person in their own words and about their own life. Autobiographies are often characterised by their honesty. Famous autobiographies include The Diary of a Young Girl (1947) by Anne Frank (1929-1945) and Angela's Ashes (1996) by Frank McCourt (1930-2009).
Mandela's autobiography, published in 1994, became a key text in the study of apartheid South Africa and the resistance against this unequal system of governance. Many perceptions about Mandela circulated over the preceding decades, with some believing that he was a dangerous and violent individual.
Long Walk to Freedom was Mandela's chance to speak about his own life and particularly the motivations behind his actions in his words. This is a central feature of autobiographies. They allow their authors to set the story straight from their perspective. What is said in them is not mediated by others. This aim was successful in the case of Long Walk to Freedom. It helped to cement Mandela's reputation as a wise leader and brave freedom fighter. It also exposed the horrors of apartheid.
Long Walk to Freedom: themes
Long Walk to Freedom explored themes regarding the pain that apartheid inflicted on Black South Africans, especially those who were actively fighting against it. The text can be characterised as both emotive and powerful.
Long Walk to Freedom: racial inequality
Racial inequality is central to Mandela's autobiography. Mandela details the fundamental unfairness that Black South Africans suffered during apartheid. They were not allowed to vote, were segregated, and were regularly subjected to extreme cases of police brutality. Both seeing and experiencing this spurred Mandela on in his activism, despite the dangers it posed to his life.
Mandela exposes the absurdity of the racial inequality that apartheid promoted. He celebrates the tribal culture that he was brought up in, recognising its uniqueness and value. This was something both ignored and demonised by the South African government at the time.
Long Walk to Freedom also shows the inhumane treatment of Black prisoners during apartheid. Mandela and his fellow anti-apartheid activists were treated significantly worse than their white counterparts on Robben Island. They were looked down upon because of their race. As the quote below shows, it was the fundamental mistreatment of Black South Africans that propelled Mandela to become an activist.
I had no epiphany...but a steady accumulation of a thousand slights, a thousand indignities and a thousand unremembered moments produced in me an anger, a rebelliousness, a desire to fight the system that imprisoned my people. (Part 3)
Long Walk to Freedom: unity
Unity is a theme that runs throughout Long Walk to Freedom. In his earlier activism, Mandela believed that it was Black people and Black people alone who could fight for their freedom in South Africa. However, as he aged and experienced more of the world, Mandela came around to the idea that the only way true equality would ever be achieved was through a unified fight. He encouraged white South Africans who were uncomfortable with apartheid to join the fight to dismantle the system.
Mandela even believed that those with the most staunch racist beliefs could be persuaded to change their minds through the power of education. In Long Walk to Freedom, he tells the story of a white prison guard in Robben Island who was racist and cruel to the Black prisoners. Through exposure to Mandela and the work he was doing, this guard slowly changed his mind. When he left Robben Island, he wished Mandela good luck with his activism. For Mandela, this proved that anyone could be educated and that unity in activism was key.
Long Walk to Freedom: Mandela
By the time Long Walk to Freedom was published in 1994, Nelson Mandela had already won the Nobel Peace Prize for his anti-apartheid work. This was before he was elected South Africa's first Black head of state. Today, Mandela is remembered as one of the world's most important activists and best leaders. His ability to prioritise resistance while still negotiating peace is respected by many. Mandela is also a hero and icon of the anti-racist movement. He was unrelenting in his struggles, refusing to give up until Black South Africans were free in their own nation.
Mandela was also an effective politician. He was able to negotiate intelligently. Mandela is often regarded for his wisdom. He recognised that while apartheid had been stopped, the journey to global racial equality had a long way to go.
Fun fact! Mandela was quite a sharp dresser. He had a particular penchant for colourful silk shirts, something he became known for.
Fig. 2 - Today, Mandela is a celebrated figure of the anti-racism movement.
Long Walk to Freedom: quotes
As has been mentioned, Long Walk to Freedom is an autobiography which makes the study of quotes a key consideration for this text. The language in the book is central as it is the author's life story told in their own words.
| Quote | Chapter | Explanation |
| 'Nonviolent passive resistance is effective as long as your opposition adheres to the same rules as you do. But if peaceful protest is met with violence, its efficacy is at an end. For me, nonviolence was not a moral principle but a strategy.' | Part 4 | Mandela explains the rationale behind his encouragement of violent resistance, something that many have criticised. He was of the belief that if the oppressed were being met with violence, then they must fight back. This was the only way to move towards freedom under these circumstances. |
| 'To make peace with an enemy one must work with that enemy, and that enemy becomes one’s partner.' | Part 11 | Mandela wrote this regarding his negotiations with F.W. de Klerk. He wished for peace in South Africa and recognised that he must work with de Klerk to achieve this. Mandela was a pragmatic politician. |
| 'It was a crime to walk through a whites only door, a crime to ride a whites only bus, a crime to use a whites only drinking fountain, a crime to walk on a whites only beach, a crime to be on the streets after 11pm, a crime not to have a pass-book and a crime to have the wrong signature in that book.' | Part 4 | Mandela details the unequal restrictions that apartheid laws placed on Black South Africans. They were forced out of every aspect of daily life, despite making up the majority of the population. |
Long Walk to Freedom - Key takeaways
- Long Walk to Freedom is a 1994 text by activist and politician Nelson Mandela (1918-2013).
- The book is an autobiography.
- It follows Mandela's life growing up in apartheid South Africa and fighting against this regime.
- Two key themes in Long Walk to Freedom are racial inequality and unity.
- Today, Mandela is remembered as a key anti-racist figure of the twentieth century.
References
- Fig. 1 - Nelson Mandela 1994 (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nelson_Mandela_1994_(2).jpg) by John Mathew Smith (https://www.flickr.com/people/36277035@N06) licensed by CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)
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