South Africa Frees Mandela
Mandela is free, but no man is free until all men are free. South Africa prisons still house numbers of blacks who cared to challenge apartheid in the beleaguered nation.
Mandela was solemn in his address to his compatriots upon his release (Part A, Feb. 12). Twenty-seven years of incarceration can make a man limp, but Mandela stood tall and stalwart.
Contrary to the predictions of former President Reagan and President Bush, sanctions were effective in leading to Mandela’s release. Sanctions have brought mass unemployment among the blacks of South Africa, but unemployment is a small price to pay in the struggle for equality. Soldiers give their lives in battle.
President Bush is to be commended for inviting President F.W. de Klerk and Mandela to the United States. When Mandela arrives in the U.S., I hope he reiterates the message he gave the black youngsters of South Africa. “Stay in school!” I hope the message reaches the black youth of our nation as well as the black youth of South Africa. Education is just as formidable a weapon for equality as Mandela’s leadership.
S.M. ROSEN
Newbury Park
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