Forgiveness and Emancipation

I finally understand why Mandela chose reconciliation over revenge. In his Long Walk to Freedom he gives an explanation for his approach of reconciliation. He said when he stepped out of jail, he knew he had two choices the one is to get white people back for what they have did to him or he can forgive them completely. He decided on the road to forgiveness because if he had chosen hate and revenge he would have imprisoned himself all over again.

It is funny what a strange hold hate have over oneself, and the saddest part is you expect the next person to care. The truth is that the people you hate in most cases are not aware of your feelings and does not even of care your state of mind. The issue in a post-apartheid SA is emancipation, and it can only be achieve through forgiveness.

It is bold of me to write this, but I came to realise that this is the truth.  Emancipation does not mean your problems of yesterday would magically disappear, it means that you will be willing to move on to a better life, and not expect any favours or anything from the next person (the hated one).

We black people need to forgive white people for apartheid and the injustice of the past, and white people must forgive themselves and the apartheid leadership for what they have done to them. White people were made believe that they are special and superior to black people, but this was taken away from them with the sudden abolishment of apartheid.

White people are also victims of apartheid (we can argue the extent of it). White people lost their families and friends in a silly war that benefitted them nothing, and in many cases this hate and anger is protected towards black people. Some white people blame black people for this because their family and friends were killed for fighting black communists in Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Angola.

Black people as victims of apartheid had to endure the constant humiliation and discrimination of white people. Black people were not allowed to use the same public spaces as black people or love someone of another race. Black had to call white people ‘baas’ (boss) and sit at the back of a bakkie while the dog is sitting in front. The homes of black people were destroyed and were forcefully removed to places that were not fit for human inhabitancy. Their friends and family were killed and imprisoned if they protested for a South Africa that is free from racial injustice.

This shows that both white and black must forgive. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was established in this regard. The aim was to let South Africans forgive and reconcile. The TRC have contributed towards this but did not succeed to get the desired results everyone has hoped for. My critic on the TRC is that the scope was too small and that it was too short-lived.

The question one need to ask is: How do you forgive? If you forgive please use the standard that was set by the Bible. Jesus said that when you forgive you must forgive 70 x 7. Once you forgive like that your mind is freed from all hatred and ‘buts’ and you are willing to move on. With forgiveness also comes acceptance. You accept that the other person might not change. You also accept the fact that you are doing this for yourself and do not expect something in return from the other party. Forgiveness is without expectations; do not expect the next person to change or care.

Mandela chose forgiveness for himself and by doing this he freed himself from the last thing that might have kept him captive, and since he made that decision, he grew stronger, wiser and became iconic. It takes more to forgive than to hate, but the results of forgiveness is far better than that of hatred.