Barack Obama’s Mandela tweet has reminded the world of the greatness of South Africa’s greatest son, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela.
Mandela is remembered for his legacy in fighting racism and advocate for humanity to regard each other as equals irrespective of abounding differences.
The former President of the United States of America reacted to the Charlottesville, Virginia, racial crisis with a tweet which has not only been excessively retweeted but is now the most liked tweet ever on the social network.
What’s special about the tweet? It’s Nelson Mandela’s quote. As you will find in Nelson Mandela’s 1994 autobiography – “Long Walk to Freedom”, the first black head of state of South Africa said:
“No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.”
"No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion…" pic.twitter.com/InZ58zkoAm
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) August 13, 2017
Obama tweeted excerpts from the quote. It has been retweeted over a million times and, has gathered over 4 million likes making it the most liked tweet ever on twitter. The Barack Obama’s Mandela tweet is as shown below:
In view of the Charlottesville incident, here are other Nelson Mandela’s quotes that come to mind:
1. “Racism is a blight on the human conscience. The idea that any people can be inferior to another, to the point where those who consider themselves superior define and treat the rest as subhuman, denies the humanity even of those who elevate themselves to the status of gods.”
2. “For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.”
3. “Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies.”
4. “During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”
5. “Political division, based on color, is entirely artificial; and when it disappears, so will the domination of one color group by another.” Mandela died after a prolonged battle with respiratory infection on the 5th of December 2013, when he was 95. He was mourned in his country for 10 days.
