Nelson Mandela frequently repeats: “The struggle is my life”. What struggle is he talking about? Is he casual? The fight to end racism in South Africa, where it is rife among people of all races, certainly affected Mandela, as it did all Africans. How can he say that he devoted his life to the cause of anti-racism? Racism became official policy with the passing of an apartheid law in 1948. The term "apartheid" means "apart": not necessarily racial victimization and conversely favoritism. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay However, apartheid became the culmination of unwritten laws excluding black people made literal. Apartheid implied that whites – namely the English, Dutch, Japanese and Italians – were to be separated and favored as citizens of South Africa, while the black majority, referred to as Bantu regardless of their tribe or their homeland, had to live in bantustans. Similar to the Native American reservations of America, but much more extreme, the bantustans were territories with arid, barren soil and little perceived value. On cramped farms, natives struggled to provide food and decent living conditions for themselves and their families. Africans were not allowed to own their own land or marry officially. If they went to a white colony, as most did to find work, they had to carry a pass indicating their name, their address in the bantustan, their identification number, their photo, their employment status and their age. Curfews restricted Africans to daylight hours, and men could be arrested for traffic violations. But public racism was even more endemic before the issue of apartheid. There is a long and bloody history of European violations and victimization against African people, beginning with the Cape Colony in the 1600s. Africans were segregated so that language and cultural barriers could not be crossed to form a united revolt. Essential slavery was practiced although it had long been banned. The above-average African didn't even know how to write. These were the conditions under which Nelson Mandela became president of the ANC, founded the ANC Youth League, transformed a prison into a place of learning, became president of South Africa and won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts. It wasn't easy. Nelson Mandela grew up in Qunu, Transkei Territory, where he was born on July 18, 1918. He was taught the relationship between the farmer and the land and the value of family. Mandela learned that what people held most dear was brotherhood and unity in the face of injustice. As the son of a chief, he learned to lead and adapt to the needs of his people. Inspired by other great African leaders, such as Makana, David Stuurman and Siyolo, Mandela pledged to make the most effective contribution possible to the plight of his people: to lift them himself from degradation and injustice. . To achieve this goal, he decided that he must first acquire an education in order to be recognized by the white supremacist government as someone who, although black, was knowledgeable and disciplined in both white and black culture and was therefore capable of representing the African people. He studied African politics and the history of the world wars, particularly the battles of Africans and Europeans. Genuinely interested in acquiring knowledge about all cultures,."