Chapter 4
The Defiance Campaign
In 1950, Nelson was elected president of the Youth League. In 1952 the ANC sent a letter to the prime minister saying that since all the ANC complaints had fallen on deaf ears, they were going to take action. Unless the government repealed—or struck down—the laws of apartheid by February 29, there would be a campaign of defiance. In other words, black people would refuse to obey the apartheid laws.
This time the ANC’s complaints were not ignored. They were rejected. The government warned that anyone breaking the law would be severely punished. They might be arrested or forced to pay a big fine. Some people were beaten. Nelson led the protest anyway, raising funds and rounding up volunteers to break the laws of apartheid peacefully. For example, some were to sit on whites-only benches or stand in whites-only lines. Nelson traveled all around the province speaking to workers and villagers, encouraging them to fight for their rights. They came to respect the man they called Mandela.
The Defiance Campaign, as this protest was called, would be peaceful. No matter what the government did to them, the protesters would not react with violence. They might be hurt, Mandela warned, but they must control their anger and fear. If they attacked, the government would easily crush them.
It was illegal to encourage anyone to break apartheid laws. However, Nelson and other ANC members recruited over 8,500 volunteers. Many wore armbands in green, gold, and black, the colors of the ANC: green for the land, gold for its riches, and black for the people.
Other countries took notice and admired the courage of the protesters. But the South African government cracked down hard on them. People were arrested and sometimes beaten. The police raided houses and arrested black leaders. As for Nelson Mandela, he was now forbidden to join any group, or write anything for a newspaper or magazine. He couldn’t go to an airport or a school, or even leave his neighborhood in Johannesburg.
The Defiance Campaign was crushed. But thousands of new members had joined the ANC. Black citizens had seen that they could stand together against the white government. They had also seen how far the government was willing to go to stop them. They now understood that they might have to die to get equal rights. For many black South Africans, it was a sacrifice they were willing to make.
In 1953 the Nats were reelected. They outlawed missionary schools like the one young Nelson had attended, because these schools taught black children the same way that white children were taught—in other words, they treated them like equals. The government passed an education act: All black children would be taught that they were inferior to whites and only good for serving them. A black child was taught just enough to become a janitor or house worker.
In 1955 the ANC called for a Congress of the People to agree on a bill of rights for all South Africans, no matter what race. Nelson’s friend Walter Sisulu helped organize the meeting. There were more than three thousand delegates from all over South Africa who gathered on June 25 and 26 on a soccer field outside Johannesburg. People traveled miles to be there. They sat on blankets in the grass. People of all races held banners saying “Freedom of Speech” or “We Want Better.” On a platform in front of the crowd was a wheel with four spokes symbolizing unity. The four spokes represented the main anti-apartheid political groups, with the ANC represented by the hub of the wheel in the center.
The bill of rights was called the Freedom Charter. The charter was read aloud in English and in two African languages, Xhosa and Sesotho. Each point was debated, just like in the tribal meetings of Nelson’s childhood. The mood was joyous until the arrival of police with guns. The police grabbed the microphone and forbade anyone to leave. They arrested the leadership of the ANC including Oliver Tambo, Walter Sisulu, and Nelson Mandela.
The men were accused of treason. If found guilty, they could be put to death.
