Desecrating the Memory of a Prophet: American Conservatives on Nelson Mandela

As is now common knowledge, former South African President Nelson Mandela died last Thursday, Decamber 5. I, like most people around the world, was deeply saddened by this news. Mandela was and still is a role model and an inspiration to me, and his death greatly affected me. It was with shock, therefore, that I learned that some Americans were openly hostile to Mandela. 

It started with this clip from the O'Reilly Factor with Bill O'Reilly and Rick Santorum. Take a look at 0:57-1:24, 2:07-2:37, and 3:02-3:32.

Where can I begin? Let's start with the first bit. Bill O'Reilly says that, sure, Nelson Mandela was a great guy. He did a lot for "his people," but he was a COMMUNIST. Because he was a COMMUNIST, real Americans cannot claim to agree with him. O'Reilly was so impudent as to tell Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu that he "disagrees with them." The most startling thing about this clip is its gross inaccuracy. Nelson Mandela was not a communist. He worked with many communists, but he himself never identified as a communist. Mandela's autobiography, Long Walk To Freedom, describes his interactions with South African communists during his career. It also shows that the idea that Mandela was a COMMUNIST was propagated by the Apartheid government and the ANC's rival organization, the extremist Pan Africanist Conference (PAC), to discredit him among South Africans and Westerners abroad. 

While Bill O'Reilly's mistruths are shameful, if not surprising, another important aspect of this clip is the reification of the word COMMUNIST. In the previous paragraph, I write the word "communist" two different ways. One is the simple, correct, lower-case version, referring simply to the definition of communism. The other, "COMMUNIST," is the reified version. Read "COMMUNIST" the same as Bill O'Reilly says it. In American culture, communism is associated with everything evil. If someone is marked as a COMMUNIST, they immediately become a negative figure. Sure, O'Reilly says, Nelson Mandela was a strong, passionate, great man, but he was a COMMUNIST, and we therefore cannot agree with him. Imagine what Mandela and Archbishop Tutu must have thought when this white American guy with anger management issues came up to them and said that he "disagreed with them." Frankly, the way that man represents the United States abroad almost makes me ashamed to be an American. 

But right-wing Mandela-sacrilege doesn't stop there. Mercifully-former Senator Rick Santorum crossed a line when he compared Mandela's fight against Apartheid to the Republican fight against the Affordable Care Act, or "Obamacare," in the U.S. First of all, it is important to note that the ACA was originally an idea proposed by the Heritage Foundation, a very Conservative think tank. The ANC most certainly did not propose Apartheid. So, right from the get go, we see that the Republican's efforts are based on lies and hypocrisy, while the ANC's were not. Second, comparing nation-wide legalized racism so nauseating that it can be hardly expressed in words to a benign institutionalization of capitalism is loathsome beyond belief. Santorum's despicable words betray an indifference to honoring the men and women who have done so much good in this world. He uses Mandela and his bravery to his own political advantage. It will suffice to say that Rick Santorum and Bill O'Reilly will never be as brave, honorable, kind, and honest as Nelson Mandela was. 

Shockingly, it doesn't stop there. This story on NPR's "Here & Now" tells how everyday Conservative Americans, not looking for any political edge, complained to the leaders of their movement about their compliments to Nelson Mandela. One such person wrote, "This clenched-fist murdering guerrilla warrior does not deserve respect from informed Americans." To be honest, I'm not sure how to respond to that in a civilized manner. As an "informed American," (at least compared to this person), I happen to know that Nelson Mandela, as head of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing of the ANC, took every precaution possible to avoid deaths in committing acts of sabotage. He was certainly not a "murdering guerrilla." Mandela's composure, bravery, and never-ceasing optimism and friendliness in the face of unbelievable adversity certainly demands respect from all "informed Americans." But if respecting and looking up to Nelson Mandela makes me a "clenched-fist" radical, then I am proud to say that I am a "clenched-fist" radical.