Nelson Mandela Evidence Spectrum How should South Africans remember him?

What is evidence? Is all evidence equal?

Small Group Collaboration Discuss answers to the following: Why is textual evidence not always a perfect fit for a claim? What is a spectrum and how does it work?

Source Bias Analysis Do you trust one source as much as other sources? Why or why not? Group the source information of the sources into three piles: Reliable/ not reliable/ in the middle. Remember, bias is everywhere. But when we can recognize why and how a source might be biased, we are more media literate.

Create an Evidence Spectrum Collaboratively move each piece of evidence to a place on the spectrum at your table.

Reflection Star pieces of evidence that were more difficult to place by consensus. Reflect on the process. Why is it more difficult to determine where some pieces of evidence fall on the spectrum? Which evidence is most interesting to discuss with your group? What is the value in discussing the evidence and placing it on the spectrum?

Claim Supporting Argument Choose a side and make a claim. Should South Africans remember Nelson Mandela as a national hero or as a more complicated man with a checkered past? Begin by determining 2- 3 pieces of evidence from the side of the spectrum that you think make the strongest argument. Do they have a similar theme. What can you say about these pieces of evidence together? Write a clear, arguable claim statement. Claim Supporting Argument Evidence 1 Evidence 2 Evidence 3

Counterclaim Determine a piece of evidence from the other side of the spectrum that could be used in a counterclaim. Your counterclaim should NOT be the title of the other side of the spectrum. Your counterclaim SHOULD BE something that you can rebut or challenge with evidence from the same side on which you already created your claim.

Reflect on Counterclaiming Where on the spectrum did you find the best counter-evidence? Is it better to find pieces of evidence that are in direct opposition or pieces that are more nuanced? Why?

3 Paragraph Summary

Source: NBC News Until 2008 the U.S. officially considered Mandela a terrorist. During the Cold War, both the State and Defense departments dubbed Mandela’s political party, the ANC, a terrorist group, and Mandela’s name remained on the U.S. terrorism watch list till 2008.  Source: The National Review 14,000 people were killed between 1990 and 1994 — the period during which the ANC was legalized and black-on-black violence became rampant, just as it is in South Africa today. The ANC systematically killed rivals for power and suspected regime informants — most notoriously, by the savage method of “necklacing,” in which a tire filled with gasoline was hung around the terrified victim’s neck and then set on fire.  Source: http://thebackbencher.co.uk Nelson Mandela was the head of UmKhonto we Sizwe, (MK), the terrorist wing of the ANC and South African Communist Party. At his trial, he had pleaded guilty to 156 acts of public violence including mobilising terrorist bombing campaigns, which planted bombs in public places, including the Johannesburg railway station. Many innocent people, including women and children, were killed by Nelson Mandela’s MK terrorists.  Source: The Nelson Mandela Foundation True to his promise, Mandela stepped down in 1999 after one term as President. He continued to work with the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund he set up in 1995 and established the Nelson Mandela Foundation and The Mandela Rhodes Foundation.  Source: www.biography.com Nelson Mandela, a symbol of global peacemaking, he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 and became the first black president of South Africa in 1994, serving until 1999.  Source: The New York Times And as president, from 1994 to 1999, he devoted much energy to moderating the bitterness of his black electorate and to reassuring whites with fears of vengeance.  Source: www.thefamouspeople.com Mandela, profoundly influenced by Gandhi, set on the path of non-violent resistance. He formulated the Defiance Campaign against apartheid with Indian and communist groups. Starting with a group of merely 10,000 people, in no time the numbers expanded to reach 100,000.