Mandela’s Cry of Freedom

Freedom took new meaning Sunday as the world watched Nelson Mandela walk out of 27 years of captivity.

The exultant celebration of his countrymen measured their own expectations. The violence that accompanied the celebration underscored the complexity of what lies ahead.

The climax of the day was written in Mandela’s address to the nation, as the man imprisoned for terrorism set the agenda for all South Africans. With eloquence and vision, he looked beyond the bondage of apartheid to “the establishment of democracy” on “a non-racial basis.”

He used his first hours of freedom to facilitate what now needs to happen. He was conciliatory, praising President Frederik W. de Klerk as “a man of integrity” and recognizing his constructive leadership. But he was also realistic, insisting on two preconditions for negotiations: the end of the national emergency and the release of the remaining political prisoners. And he emphasized that the black majority must exercise its democratic rights in choosing those who will negotiate its future.

Lest the euphoria over his release undermine rather than reinforce the process of negotiation, Mandela also issued useful warnings: “To lift sanctions now would run the risk of aborting the process toward the complete eradication of apartheid.” That reality has been accepted by the American government. The struggle, he cautioned, is not yet over.

The day was one of promise, great promise. Mandela walked free from prison but not from a system of racism that still strangles the lives of the blacks. He somehow controlled his own anger, but a seething majority resonated to his grim reminder of the shattering toll of apartheid. Unpredictable forces have been freed with him. They provide now unprecedented risk, but also opportunity.