Mandela’s story is one of forgiveness

Forgiveness is the province of great men and even greater societies, as those who show us a better way ultimately show us how to build a life and a civilization on a foundation of truth, justice and honesty.

That was the rarified air of Nelson Mandela, as iconic a symbol of victory over injustice as Martin Luther King Jr. or Mahatma Gandhi.

Make no mistake, Mandela was a flawed man who had critics around the world: Much of his movement prior to his life sentence in South Africa’s infamous Robben Island prison involved planning a guerrilla campaign meant to sabotage if not upend white rule through violence. Equally flawed themselves, MLK and Gandhi were distinctively different in that their path to enlightenment was a direct trek through nonviolent civil disobedience.

Mandela’s greatest strength, though, was to understand the principles of civil disobedience if not necessarily the entire roadmap; thus:

“To err is human; to forgive, divine.”

The class of human being that Mandela belongs to is the class of men who can suffer injustice, indignity, pain and humiliation and internalize on a deep, gut level that to strike back in anger is only a temporary relief and cannot sustain support, healing or nation building. Mandela, MLK, Gandhi, popes of the past, successful indigenous leaders around the world, they have all understood the power of love and forgiveness and the futility of anger and violence.

Try to imagine being the follower of a violent despot, a monster and megalomaniac who rules by fear of the constant threat of death or imprisonment. What’s the end game in that equation, when the very nature of that society or nation is to live on the precipice of civil war or complete revolt?

When the leader is righteous and the cause humane, the support is often absolute and fundamental. To follow a Mandela, or a Dr. King, or a Gandhi, is a transformative prospect, one that people can’t wait to be part of. It changes lives and it changes history, and a large part of that is steeped in that concept of forgiveness.

MLK said, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

Gandhi said, “The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.”

Here’s Mark Twain’s eloquent take: “Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.”

Although there is a great quote attributed to Mandela from the 2009 film “Invictus” — “Forgiveness liberates the soul. It removes fear. That is why it is such a powerful weapon” — it’s not clear whether he actually said it.

Mandela did, however, say: “Having resentment against someone is like drinking poison and thinking it will kill your enemy.”

This from a man who spent 27 years in prison because he wanted equality for his people and an end to white minority rule. Certainly Mandela was no shrinking violet or pacifist. By many written accounts he could be angry, testy and adamant in his unwillingness to give up his hard-earned victories for his nation. But revenge and anger would not rot his insides nor would it rot the moorings of a new way of life for South Africa.

As the world mourns the passing of one of humanity’s titans, it does so for many reasons, the largest being the ability to outlast Apartheid and inspire the international community to support the human rights and equality of the black majority.

Mandela’s genius and his lasting mark on humanity transcend borders and politics, though. His story is about the triumph of man’s better angels and the elegance and immortality of how he did what he did, not the earthly production and the terrestrial results.

This column first appeared in the Imperial Valley Press, Dec. 6, 2013; Nelson Mandela died Dec. 5.