When black people in Brazil are treated as second class citizens and do not have equal opportunities to create businesses and to become part of the formal economy by the minority of white Brazilians….That is discrimination.
When the American government supports the Israeli army [sprinkling of applause] in disputes over the land against Palestine[SIC]…That is discrimination. [biggest applause]
When the governments of Russia and China discriminate against people who possibly have HIV, and do not let them into their countries….That is discrimination.
When my African people, from Africa, the cradle of civilization, are seen as homeless, poor, backwards and uncivilized people, unable to lead themselves…What is that? [Audience response: That is discrimination.]
Ndaba Mandela had more to say, but it is disconcerting to hear someone who must understand the important nuances of discrimination to attempt to indoctrinate an audience into repeating a mantra without any education about the background of the issues.
How many of those in the audience have a basis for understanding the aboriginal issues? Or of the health immigration policies of Russia and China?
And what about teaching the Brandeis audience that the American government is guilty of discrimination because it “supports the Israeli army in disputes over the land against Palestinians”?
If the Israel issue is too laden with emotional baggage, how about when Ndaba Mandela, rightfully proud of Africa and indignant when people blithely express their ignorance about the continent, does the same about another geographically misunderstood land mass?
When Ndaba Mandela said that the African Dream had not yet been defined, he mentioned that Africa is comprised of more than 50 different countries, and has hundreds of languages. That is undeniably true.
But Mandela went on to say, with a degree of outrage, that “Africa is the most diverse place on the planet,” and asked how it could be that “people compare Africa to China,” which he claimed has “one language and one culture.”
China actually has at least eight different main languages and many dozens of different dialects. More than 85 percent of all Africans speak one or another of the 15 primary languages. And the ethnic diversity throughout China is vast.
It is absolutely essential when speaking out for social justice and against ignorance and discrimination, to make sure that the examples provided don’t reveal one’s own. Which brings out another important, less celebrated lesson: so much of what is considered evil or hateful happens because of ignorance rather than contempt or racism.
It is entirely understandable that the Brandeis audience wanted to show their support for the living legacy of Nelson Mandela, one of the most significant icons of the past century.
What is less understandable is why, given the claim of a signature unconventionality, the willingness to swim upstream against the current, the audience instead swam right along with the current, even when there were misstatements that called out for correction. Those went unheard and unanswered. Even by the faculty and members of the administration in the room.