Nelson Mandela: Underdogs Essay
Not often do individuals get imprisoned for friendly protests and advocating their opinion. We all understand that we are “not all born equal” but often times some are treated worse than others. Nelson Mandela was one of few who was treated with social injustice. Nelson Mandela overcame social injustice by gaining courage and fighting against the government for what is right.
At 9 years old after Mandela’s father died, he soon became involved in many leadership roles. He was the first in his family to receive formal education and excelled in boxing and track. “In 1939 Mandela entered the elite University of Fort Hare, the only Western-style higher learning institute for South African blacks at the time” (History). Nelson had a very lucky childhood and life planned out for him since his father was the chief of the tribe he was born into. Not before long though did things get grueling. Nelson became very involved in movements such as the African National Congress (ANC), Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), and the Armed Resistance Movement (History). Many times Mandela was put behind bars for friendly protesting and fighting for south african rights. One significant day in the 1960s, Mandela was arrested for nearly three decades for protesting against the apartheid government (History). Mandela was beaten and given unfair treatment along with the rest of his inmates for those 3 decades but he continued to advocate his opinion and push for human rights. When Mandela was finally released, the bans on his movements were lifted and he became the president of South Africa and ended apartheid. Mandela overcame multiple obstacles throughout this long process even though he was wrongfully treated and disrespected. Mandela kept his head held high and prevailed all the social injustice he had to endure since childhood by fighting for what is right.
Nelson Mandela overcame his “giant” (obstacle) by fighting for what he believed in no matter what society thought. Mandela spent 27 years in prison before he could finally take down the apartheid in South Africa (Sundance). It wasn’t just effortless for Mandela to achieve his goal after being released from prison. Leaving prison meant Mandela had to retrieve all his hard work back that he had already made before being arrested. However, it also didn’t help that Mandela was beaten and subjected to other inhumane punishments while being behind bars (Sundance). Mandela had to mentally push through the grind of all those components of being in prison to accomplish his goal of receiving human rights. Not only did Mandela overcome social injustice, but he was able to refuse to not let anyone or any society or government take him down and make him want to back down. This is a huge achievement because not only was a large government opposed to him but some groups of citizens that agreed with the law were as well. Nelson Mandela was able