Lessons of Ubuntu by Mark Mathabane

Author:Mark Mathabane
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781510712621
Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing
Published: 2018-01-26T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

Compromise: Talking to the Enemy

If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner.

—Nelson Mandela

The importance of compromise in the quest of racial healing cannot be overstated. Without it, a race war would have engulfed South Africa, with disastrous consequences for race relations in America and the world. The white minority rulers possessed nuclear weapons, which they threatened to use if their survival was at stake. It took the personal leadership of Nelson Mandela to build the trust needed between blacks and whites for negotiations to take place. That he could accomplish this while in prison was nothing short of miraculous.

Of all people, Mandela had every justifiable reason to reject compromise, given what he, his family, and other black people had suffered at the hands of apartheid. But he saw it not only as the best way to peacefully abolish apartheid, but also as the best way to ensure that there would be racial healing afterward.

Not all blacks wanted compromise or reconciliation. They believed that to the victor belonged the spoils and that revenge was justified given the enormity of their suffering. That they ultimately went along with compromise was because Mandela was unrelenting in speaking the language of Ubuntu, of which compromise is a key part. This had the double benefit of assuring whites that compromise did not mean pure capitulation. It’s a testament to the effectiveness of the compromises reached by De Klerk’s government and Mandela’s ANC that these negotiations withstood attempts by white supremacists and their death squads to ignite a race war.

Race relations are like a marriage. For either to work and be healthy, there must be a mutual give and take, an understanding of the interests of the other, and a respect of each other’s point of view to ensure that the decisions taken provide for the real interests of both. But it must be stressed that the principles underlying racial justice—equal opportunity, equal rights, and equal protection under the law—cannot be compromised. Rather, compromise applies to the tactics that are used to achieve those goals, which are the foundation upon which the edifice of democracy is built. This is why the checks and balances, which are meant to ensure compromise, are so critical to the health and survival of America’s exemplary democracy, and why Trump’s attempts to undermine them must be resisted at all cost by lovers of liberty, regardless of color, race, political party or ideology.

For racial healing to happen and endure, any tactics used in its pursuit must include input from both sides rather than be imposed by whatever group or party happens to possess power. This is why the approach taken by Trump and the Republicans following their 2016 electoral triumph is so troubling for the future of race relations. No one could deny that they have a right to set the agenda for the country. After all, Republicans won the presidency and maintained control of both houses of Congress, and they also control most governorships and state legislatures.

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