Nelson Mandela often repeats "The struggle is my life". What struggle is he talking about? Is it disrespectful? The fight to end racism in South Africa, where it afflicts citizens of all races, has certainly affected Mandela, like all Africans, how can he say he has dedicated his life to the cause of anti-racism? Racism became official policy with the passage of an Apartheid Act in 1948. The term "apartheid" means "apart": not necessarily racial victimization and opposite favoritism. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay. However, apartheid has come to denote the culmination of unspoken laws excluding blacks, made literal. Apartheid meant that whites, i.e. English and Dutch, Japanese and Italians, were to be segregated and favored as citizens of South Africa while the black majority, labeled as Bantu regardless of tribe or homeland, were to live in the Bantustans. Similar to Native American reservations, but much more extreme, the Bantustans were territories with arid, sterile soil and little perceived value. On cramped farms, natives struggled to provide food and decent living conditions for themselves and their families. Africans were not allowed to own their own land or officially marry. If they went to a white settlement, as most did to find work, they had to carry with them a pass indicating their name, Bantustan address, identification number, photo, employment status and age. The curfew limited Africans to daylight hours, and men could be arrested for a traffic violation. But public racism was rampant, even more so, before the apartheid issue. There is a long and bloody history of European violations and victimization of African peoples, starting with the Cape Colony in the 1600s. Africans were kept separate so that language and cultural barriers could not be broken to form a united revolt. Essential slavery was practiced although it had been outlawed long ago. The above-average African couldn't even write. These are the conditions under which Nelson Mandela became president of the ANC, formed the ANC Youth League, converted a prison into a place of learning, became president of South Africa and won a Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts. It wasn't easy. Nelson Mandela grew up in Qunu in the Transkei Territory, where he was born on 18 July 1918. He was taught the relationship between the farmer and the land, and the value of family. Mandela learned that among all the things people held dearest was brotherhood and unity in the face of injustice. As the son of a chief, he learned leadership and how to adapt to the needs of his people. Inspired by other great African leaders, such as Makana, David Stuurman and Siyolo, Mandela vowed to make the single most effective contribution possible to the plight of his people: to single-handedly lead them out of degradation and injustice. To achieve this goal, he decided that he must first receive an education so as to be recognized by the white supremacist government as someone who, although black, was knowledgeable and disciplined in both white and black culture and therefore capable of representing the African people. He studied African politics and the history of global wars, especially the battles of Africans and Europeans. Sincerely interested in gaining knowledge of all cultures, he also studied ancient Greek poetry and history. Being a typical African territory, Qunu had a local missionary school where the."