NELSON MANDELA SPEECH: VERSION 1

When Nelson Mandela was born, South Africa was a very difficult place to live
as a black man. Apartheid meant that, by law, blacks and whites attended different
schools, lived in different neighborhoods, and went to different hospitals and clinics.
His family was not citizens of the country they lived in. To change this, he joined
the African National Congress and worked there for twenty years, to organize people
to resist racism and apartheid.
But in spite of Mandelas best efforts, nothing changed. The government
attacked and killed unarmed protesters and banned all anti-apartheid groups. The
government was threatened by the changes he was trying to bring about, and in
1963 brought him to trial for political offenses.
Since Mandela was the leader of a political organization which the
government had forbidden, he was put in jail at Robben Island Prison. There, at
night tried to continue leading the anti-apartheid movement from his small, damp
jail cell. He continued to study law, and wrote letters to other anti-apartheid
activists.
In prison, Mandela celebrated his sixtieth and seventieth birthdays, where he
had become a symbol for the anti-apartheid struggle. People celebrated his
birthday around the world and demanded his release.
Finally, in 1989, after 27 years in jail, a new president came to power, de
Klerk. He met with Mandela to talk about ending apartheid, and in 1990, released
Mandela from prison. Mandela travelled the world, meeting with foreign leaders,
like the pope, the prime minister of the UK and the president of the USA, to have
them demand that South Africa end apartheid.
1991 and 1992 were difficult times: there were riots as blacks and whites
disagreed over how the countrys laws should be re-written. But President de Klerk
and Mandela worked together to calm rioting and continue the legal changes. In
1993, they were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in for theirefforts.
Finally in April 1994, South Africa had free and open elections for the first
time. Apartheid was over.
Mandela became president, leading the first government of blacks and
whites in South Africa. His main goal during his four years in office was national
reconciliation. He included blacks and whites from all different political parties in
his government, including former president de Klerk. It was not easy, but it was
better than what South Africa had seen before. Having studied world history,
Mandela believed that South Africa could not be allowed to split into violent black
and white groups.
In the end, if Mandela is remembered for one thing, it will be for his role in
reconciling the blacks and whites of South Africa. Ending apartheid was only one
problem. Living in peace was a bigger one. Ultimately, Mandela helped free black
South Africans, but more importantly, he brought the country together in harmony.