Nelson Mandela s Influence On Human Rights - 945 Words

Nelson Mandela is a world renowned activist that was imprisoned for twenty seven years in a South African prison, because of a system of racism known as â€Å"apartheid† which discriminated against blacks living in South Africa at the time. Since his release from prison, apartheid has since been abolished in South Africa and he was elected President of that country. Nelson Mandela had a positive impact on human rights by standing up against racism in his country as well as many others around the world. Mandela was born as Rolihlahla Mandela on July 18, 1918 in a village called Mvezo Transkei. His father died at an early age and he became a ward of his father’s tribe at age nine. He was renamed â€Å"Nelson† on the first day of school. His interest†¦show more content†¦During Mandela’s early life and during his continued political and social involvement, apartheid was one of his main focuses. He became heavily involved in anti- apartheid movements in South Africa. Apartheid was â€Å"a policy or system of segregation or discrimination on grounds of race† which was being fought throughout South Africa. Apartheid caused problems both socially and economically for all non whites in Africa. This system of segregation was upheld and by the law and widely practiced in South Africa since the 1940’s. The system was given life through various acts and laws such as the Population Control Act, The Group Act and the Land Act, all of which were meant t o keep anyone of color either separated or at a disadvantage economically and socially. Nelson Mandela established an organization called ANC Youth which organized boycotts, unions, and other non-cooperative actions to fight against the system and policies of apartheid. For many years Nelson Mandela believed in the peaceful, non-violent approach, but after his first arrest for â€Å"treason and political advocacy† in 1956, Mandela started to believe that a more forceful approach would need to be taken to push change. He was arrested again in 1961 for organizing a workers strike and in 1963, after being put on trial again, Mandela was