Ethan McCutchen on Mandella

I know we tend to (have to?) distill our heroes into caricatures, but I hope we don't just distill Mandela into "South African Gandhi", and not just because, well, that's already Gandhi. I can't believe absolute nonviolence would have ended apartheid any more than it would have stopped the Holocaust. For what it's worth, Gandhi tried it there. I won't say he failed, but his success was in inspiring Mandela, who then set his own path.

Portraying Mandela as the next prince of nonviolence is ahistorical and, to my mind, diminishing. When he could truly see no other option (after earnestly seeking one), he used violence minimally and strategically. What makes him amazing to me is that he seems to not to have let it diminish his love. Arguably the worst impact of violence is not the physical destruction, but the psychological toll. Justifying violence can amplify hatred and dehumanization, but he seemed to grow more resolute in seeing the humanity of his oppressors even as he grew more determined to end their domination. I know I'm speculating, but it sure seems like the fact that Apartheid ended – and ended without a Dresden or a Hiroshima – is owed in no small part to the massiveness of this man's heart.

If there has to be a caricature, please don't let it be Mr. Nonviolent. Mandela is more. He's the fusion of relentlessness, wisdom, and love.

[from Facebook 20131206 - ed.]