You know, I just thought of something. It's frankly a rather disturbing realization I came to. Nelson Mandela practiced something that we as Americans embroiled in politics and political parties are at the moment incapable of. Forgiveness. His enemy was racial segregation, not other human beings. His goal was freedom and equality, not the ruination of his rivals. Unlike us, he didn't let his party run him or speak for him, he spoke for a peoples united in a great cause. He wasn't just a politician, he was a leader.
While racial segregation ended here in America nearly 50 years ago, a new form of segregation is taking root. I see Democrats and Republicans labeling each other or stereotyping each other simply because of their political ideals. Instead of just black and white, it's also red versus blue. Mandela united a nation all by his lonesome. We as hundreds of millions of individuals cannot be united on any single given day. Instead, we are being taught to despise fellow countrymen for their beliefs, their backgrounds or their race. Not since 9/11 have we ever been truly united.
Our political system has engendered within us each a deep seated hatred of one another, making unity in America an impossible feat to accomplish. Nelson Mandela didn't see enemies, he saw opportunities. Whereas opposed to us, who seemingly see opportunities to make enemies. Mandela sought the chance to kindle understanding among his own people. Conversely, such understanding here in America is lost to petty political infighting in a supposedly united nation.
In a figurative sense, a sort of Apartheid has taken root here. On top of our petty political infighting, we seem to be doing the very same thing Mandela fought against with every fiber of his being. Racism. I don't really know if it has ended in America or not, to be honest. Because in the political world, someone's race can be his strength or his weakness. On this board, I see many examples of it daily. Normally, the merit of a man's ideas were what made him. Not his race, nor where he came from. How pathetic are we, that we as a nation can have our own principles of freedom, unity, and equality so easily demonstrated to us by a nation across the sea?
Perhaps we have it all wrong, maybe we should follow his example, Mandela's example. Call him a terrorist, or a hero if you like. Regardless, he taught the world to be free, again. Perhaps his example will help lead America back to what made it the land of the free, and home of the brave. Perhaps my friends, we can shed the chains of political bondage and learn to forgive again. Mandela once said, "If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner." To me that's unity; a unity we so often lack. He also was quoted as saying "If there are dreams about a beautiful South Africa, there are also roads that lead to their goal. Two of these roads could be named Goodness and Forgiveness." To me, that signifies that the capacity for forgiveness and understanding still exists in the hearts of men.
While racial segregation ended here in America nearly 50 years ago, a new form of segregation is taking root. I see Democrats and Republicans labeling each other or stereotyping each other simply because of their political ideals. Instead of just black and white, it's also red versus blue. Mandela united a nation all by his lonesome. We as hundreds of millions of individuals cannot be united on any single given day. Instead, we are being taught to despise fellow countrymen for their beliefs, their backgrounds or their race. Not since 9/11 have we ever been truly united.
Our political system has engendered within us each a deep seated hatred of one another, making unity in America an impossible feat to accomplish. Nelson Mandela didn't see enemies, he saw opportunities. Whereas opposed to us, who seemingly see opportunities to make enemies. Mandela sought the chance to kindle understanding among his own people. Conversely, such understanding here in America is lost to petty political infighting in a supposedly united nation.
In a figurative sense, a sort of Apartheid has taken root here. On top of our petty political infighting, we seem to be doing the very same thing Mandela fought against with every fiber of his being. Racism. I don't really know if it has ended in America or not, to be honest. Because in the political world, someone's race can be his strength or his weakness. On this board, I see many examples of it daily. Normally, the merit of a man's ideas were what made him. Not his race, nor where he came from. How pathetic are we, that we as a nation can have our own principles of freedom, unity, and equality so easily demonstrated to us by a nation across the sea?
Perhaps we have it all wrong, maybe we should follow his example, Mandela's example. Call him a terrorist, or a hero if you like. Regardless, he taught the world to be free, again. Perhaps his example will help lead America back to what made it the land of the free, and home of the brave. Perhaps my friends, we can shed the chains of political bondage and learn to forgive again. Mandela once said, "If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner." To me that's unity; a unity we so often lack. He also was quoted as saying "If there are dreams about a beautiful South Africa, there are also roads that lead to their goal. Two of these roads could be named Goodness and Forgiveness." To me, that signifies that the capacity for forgiveness and understanding still exists in the hearts of men.
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