ConflictSub-Saharan Africa
Apartheid
Racial separation as law, and a peaceful transition few expected
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Mandela spent twenty-seven years in prison and emerged with a strategy of reconciliation rather than retribution. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission offered amnesty in exchange for full confession — a model since attempted in many post-conflict countries, with mixed results. Economic inequality there remains among the world's highest.
For children
South Africa passed laws separating people by skin colour in everything from housing to schooling and marriage. Resistance grew both at home and abroad. In 1994 Nelson Mandela was elected president in the country's first free election.
Connects to
Part of Terra Saga — the story of Earth on a timeline. terrasaga.org