A NOBEL FOR HUMAN EQUALITY
Author:
Date: Saturday, October 16, 1993
Page: 10
Section: EDITORIAL PAGE
When Nelson Mandela and F.W. de Klerk were awarded the Liberty Medal in
Philadelphia on the Fourth of July, Mandela said:
"It will have seemed strange to some that two South Africans, with
respective histories as different as those of this year's honorees, should
share the honor of receiving the eminent Philadelphia Liberty Medal. Equally,
it will have seemed strange to some that we, as fighters for liberation, are
-- together with those who have been the captains of apartheid -- involved in
processes leading to the democratic transformation of South Africa.
"Some have also made the point that it was strange, 200 years ago, that
those who designed the world's first democratic constitution should have
permitted the system of slavery to continue.
"Strange though all these things might be, they nevertheless speak to one
issue: They affirm the correctness and invincibility of the truths and the
ideals of liberty, equality and the pursuit of human happiness."
These words would have been equally appropriate Friday when Mandela and de
Klerk were jointly honored again, this time with the Nobel Prize for Peace.
Many would argue that only Mandela deserves the world's highest honor as a
champion of peace. It is Mandela, after all, who has devoted his life to
realize the vision of democracy. It was Mandela who spent his prime years in
prison for the crime of challenging apartheid's brutality.
De Klerk, by contrast, moved to dismantle the regime only when its demise
seemed inevitable. Without Mandela's dissidence, de Klerk could not have
emerged as a reformer. Questions remain about his role in South Africa's
persistent violence.
Both men, however, deserve recognition for leading a negotiated end to
apartheid.
The prize was awarded just hours after two white conservatives were
sentenced for the murder of Chris Hani and just days after soldiers killed
several children in Transkei. Both are reminders that peace remains a distant
dream.
The prize is more than an acknowledgement of the contributions of Mandela
and de Klerk but an encouragement for them, and all South Africans, to stay
the course of freedom.
RAY ;10/15 NKELLY;10/17,16:05 EPEACE16
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