Though only South Africans can legitimately claim "Madiba" as one of their own, Nelson Mandela was a widely loved figure whose death is being felt across the entire globe. Human beings of this sort are incredibly rare, and the accolades that will be heaped upon him for helping end the atrocious apartheid in South Africa will be fully deserved.
At the same time, we must not forget that Mr. Mandela was an imperfect human being. We should avoid the urge to deify him, as we have with other transformative world figures, such as George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill and Pope John Paul II -- not because they weren't great men, but simply because they were men.
For a substantial portion of his life, Mr. Mandela endorsed violence. The Jerusalem Post highlights this nefarious past:
Imagine a person who planned acts of sabotage and incited violence, resulting in the deaths of innocent civilians and damage to public property.
A man who embraced brutal dictators throughout the Third World, such as Libya’s Gaddafi and Cuba’s Castro, singing their praises and defending them publicly even as they trampled on the rights and lives of their own people.
A person who hugged Yasser Arafat at the height of the intifada, hailed Puerto Rican terrorists who shot US Congressmen, and penned a book entitled, How to be a good Communist.
Picture all this and, believe it or not, you will be staring at a portrait of Nelson Mandela.
Glossing over the failures of historical figures does nobody any favors. First, and most importantly, we cannot learn from history if we refuse to fully acknowledge it. Second, history is fluid; it is constantly being written and re-written as new facts emerge. For instance, both Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower were initially thought of as having presided over failed presidencies, but subsequent analyses rehabilitated their reputations. On the flip side, Christopher Columbus is widely regarded as a hero, but recently, his rather vicious side has garnered more attention. The constant need to revise the historical record would be less likely if we portrayed global leaders as who they truly are -- warts and all.
As we celebrate the life of Nelson Mandela, let us therefore remember that he was a great man, but not a saint. In fact, not even saints are saints.
(AP photo)
