Archbishop Desmond Tutu 1931- All Belong Leo R. Sandy

Tutu cont’d Tutu started out as a teacher but then changed his career to theology Under apartheid ( a system of segregation enforced and dominated by Afrikaners (people of Dutch, German, and French descent), schools for blacks were terrible and life was very restricted for them Once one of Tutu’s children wanted to play on a set of swings near a beach but the swings were on a “white” beach off limits to blacks

Tutu cont’d Tutu received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for helping to end the apartheid system in South Africa He established the Truth and Reconciliation Commission for the purpose of avoiding revenge and providing healing for all those who suffered greatly under apartheid He was the son of a teacher and a domestic worker who taught him to value diversity

Tutu cont’d At age 12, he contracted tuberculosis and was hospitalized for 2 years at which time he received regular visits from a white Anglican priest who was also an anti-apartheid activist This priest taught Tutu that a white person caring for a black person could mean that bitterness toward white people did not have to happen – at least one white person was nice

Tutu cont’d Blacks who publicly opposed apartheid were often beaten, tortured, and killed. In one incident known as the Sharpesville massacre, 69 nonviolent demonstrators were shot and killed by police – mostly in the back as they tried to run After becoming Bishop of Lesotho, Tutu stopped carrying his required ID card and denounced apartheid while urging western countries to impose sanctions on the South African government

Tutu cont’d Following the abolition of apartheid, new elections were held, and Nelson Mandela, jailed for 40 years for opposing apartheid, was let out of prison to become president of South Africa. This was after 300 years of white rule The problem now had to be faced about how to handle all those white security police who committed atrocities and murder in enforcing apartheid

Tutu cont’d Despite death threats, Tutu refused to stop his activism but remained civil to his opponents He later became Archbishop of Cape Town but had to wait until he was 62 before he could vote in his own country The sanctions forced President F.W. de Klerk to dismantle the apartheid system

Tutu cont’d The decision was to establish a system of forgiveness so the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, chaired by Tutu, was created to hear testimonies of those who committed crimes against blacks and who suffered from such crimes In order to be given amnesty for their crimes, the perpetrators had to fully confess what they did Often solemn apologies were given by the criminals and forgiveness given to them by their victims

Tutu cont’d To those who felt that the security police and others got off too easy, Tutu offered an explanation that centered on restorative justice that allowed perpetrators and victims to reconcile as opposed to retributive justice whereby the purpose was to exact revenge on the perpetrators Tutu believed that revenge would continue a cycle of violence that would damage South Africa. He wanted a new beginning: “Without forgiveness…we have no future”

Tutu cont’d During the hearings, accounts of gruesome torture and killing caused Tutu to faint on more than one occasion and cry often Tutu now travels around the world spreading his message of forgiveness and reconciliation. “In the human family, there are no outsiders. All are insiders – Black and white, rich and poor, gay and straight, Jew and Arab, Palestinian and Israeli, Roman Catholic and Protestant, Serb and Albanian….”

Tutu Quotes Forgiveness says you are given another chance to make a new beginning. Do your little bit of good where you are; it's those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world. If you want peace, you don't talk to your friends. You talk to your enemies.

Video Interview with Desmond Tutu

References BrainyQuotes. Retrieved from https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/d/desmondtut454137.html Beller, K., & Chase, H. (2008). Great peacemakers. True stories from around the world. Sedona, AZ. LTS Press Interview with Desmond Tutu. Retrieved from https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?fr=yhs-mozilla-001&hsimp=yhs-001&hspart=mozilla&p=TED+talk+Desmond+Tutu#id=7&vid=dcb54238599ac388f898e300a4a974a5&action=view