Mandela’s Political Philosophy Develops

• How did Mandela’s childhood and education impact his political philosophy?

Mandela had a traditional Xhosa tribe upbringing in the context of his culture, but also found himself in many traditionally British education systems and with various non-Xhosa tribal members acting as guardian figures as he grew up. These diametrically opposed forms of education and upbringing helped Mandela to form the ideas he had about freedom, religion, fairness, and politics, he carried and upheld for the rest of his life.

While reading Mandela’s own writing, I found his various personal traits and virtues to be a product of his tribes’ deep belief in these very same virtues. For example, Mandela describes various meetings with tribal leaders through his involvement with the ANC court hearings, which through vivid descriptions paint him as a humble and contemplative individual, with an uncanny ability to understand both sides to an argument (an example of which can be seen during the ANC and government discussions) while simultaneously able to push his own demands forward. This ability to communicate his demands appears to come from his deep love for his own country and the truly noble belief that the African people can accomplish more than they were permitted to under the Apartheid ideology. This physical and emotional connection to his people and his country appears to stem from his childhood engagement with the natural world and the various members of his tribe.

Many characteristics of a true Xhosa seem to be engrained in young Mandela in proverbs such as: “virtue and generosity will be rewarded in ways that one cannot know.” The idea that this more contemplative and unselfish approach to learning-Mandela claims something taught to young children is not constantly questioning what they’re taught, but listening and absorbing what they’re being told-yields Mandela’s realization at a young age of a higher, unselfish calling. His British schooling further provides him the opportunity to be immersed in a distinctly different world than the one he grew up in—giving him a broader and changed perspective of the great disparity between Africans and whites in South Africa. Thus changing his perspective from the whites as benefactors (they kindly gave him his English education) and later oppressors (they withhold equal rights from Africans to pursue education, better jobs, etc.) Thus, his political philosophy is directly derived from his devotion to bringing his people out of the oppression they face under the white man, and is guided and enhanced as he moves and meets various educations and leader figures who help him to develop his actions for this philosophy.