Desmond Tutu is a South African Anglican bishop best known for his outspoken activism on behalf of human rights and his work to end apartheid. An exceptional speaker and thinker, he is the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.
Desmond Mpilo Tutu was born on October 7, 1931, in the gold-mining town of Klerksdorp, South Africa. He was the middle child in a family of three, and the only boy. Tutu’s father, Zachariah, was an elementary school principal. His mother, Althea, worked as a cook and cleaning woman at a school for blind students.
While growing up, Tutu experienced the unfair treatment black Africans received. Under a government-sanctioned system known as apartheid, South Africa was a segregated country. Apartheid was formalized by South Africa’s National Party in 1948. It ensured that the nearly twenty-three million black people living in the country would be ruled over by about four and a half million white citizens in South Africa. A lot of people accepted apartheid as the natural way of things, believing that it was normal to keep black and white people separated from one another. Black men, women, and children were forced to live in designated sections apart from white South Africans whose homes were in different parts of the country. Black people faced ridicule and condemnation every day. Many people — black and white — didn’t question this. Some believed the world was meant to be this way.
Soon after Tutu turned twelve, he and his family moved to Johannesburg, South Africa’s largest city. The Tutus had limited financial resources, but were a close-knit family with a deep and abiding faith. To earn extra money to help his family, young Tutu sold peanuts at city bus stops and worked as a golf caddy at some of Johannesburg’s high-profile country clubs.
It was around this time that Tutu developed tuberculosis. He nearly died, but thanks to loving care—and medicine—Tutu recovered. Though his illness left him weak for a time, it strengthened his resolve to pursue a dream he’d always had — to become a doctor.
The first step toward this goal was to do his best in school. Tutu was a determined young man who studied hard and took his classes at Johannesburg Bantu High School seriously. His school—an all-black institution—was inferior to the white schools in Johannesburg. This was part of apartheid’s unfairness. The South African government underfunded black schools. The textbooks in Tutu’s classrooms had torn pages and warped spines. Sometimes there weren’t enough pencils and notebooks to go around, and books for reading pleasure were scarce. Cracked walls and raggedy floors ran throughout the school.
Segregation sign under apartheid in South Africa
White schools were well funded by the government. They were housed in clean buildings, students’ books were new and well kept, and every boy and girl had proper school supplies. Many all-white schools had libraries filled with storybooks and other classic works of literature that black students could only dream about.
Despite its limited resources, Tutu’s school was filled with dedicated educators who instilled their students with pride. Tutu’s teachers encouraged him to aim high and pursue his dreams.
When Tutu graduated from high school in 1950, he had been accepted into medical school. He was not able to attend, though, as his parents could not afford the expensive tuition. Tutu, who was very resilient, quickly developed a new plan for his future. He saw that his father loved being a teacher, so with the help of an academic scholarship, Tutu enrolled in Pretoria Bantu Normal College, where he studied education from 1951 to 1953. To become better versed in teaching practices, Tutu attended the University of South Africa, from which he graduated in 1954. With his teacher’s certificate and a bachelor’s degree in hand, Tutu was eager to give back to the high school that had done so much to shape him.
He became a teacher at Johannesburg Bantu High School, where he taught English and history. Tutu instilled in his students the same life lessons he’d received while at the school. He told them that the ugly ways of apartheid were no reflection on them as individuals and learners — that although the laws and attitudes of people indicated that black South Africans were inferior, this was not true.
To make matters worse, the government had recently passed the Bantu Education Act. Under this new law, the standards of education were lowered for black students. The law was a way to limit the potential of black youth and prevent them from seeking decent work opportunities later in life.
The Bantu Education Act — and the increasing discrimination surrounding its injustice — frustrated Tutu. Out of this frustration with the poor educational opportunities available for black students, he gave up teaching in 1957.
Still eager to help his people, Tutu continued to learn all he could as a means for furthering the cause for human equality. In 1958, he became a student at St. Peter’s Theological College in Johannesburg. He felt that by becoming a priest, he could inspire others and offer hope when they needed it. Apartheid had a firm hold on South Africa, and it was getting worse, so his people needed all the hope he could provide.
Tutu as deacon
In 1960, Tutu was ordained as an Anglican deacon and was made a priest in 1961. The following year, Tutu attended King’s College in London and received a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in theology. While pursuing his studies, Tutu served as curate at two English churches, St. Alban’s and St. Mary’s. Working in churches showed him that he had a gift for imparting serenity and faith when people needed it most. He saw that he could share this gift with his fellow South Africans.
King’s College, 1930
Tutu returned to his homeland in 1967, where he taught at South Africa’s Federal Theological Seminary and served as the chaplain of the University of Fort Hare. Fort Hare was one of the few universities in the southern part of Africa that offered a quality education for black students. It pleased Tutu to witness young Africans reaching their fullest educational potential.
In 1970, Tutu served as a lecturer in the department of theology at the University of Botswana, Lesotho, and Swaziland in Roma, Lesotho. Tutu began to nurture his powers for public speaking and his abilities for writing. He wrote a letter to South Africa’s Prime Minister B. J. Vorster describing the mounting tensions between black and white residents as “a powder barrel that can explode at any time.” In his lectures, Tutu told people about apartheid’s unfair practices. He shared experiences from his childhood and from his days as a teacher. Some of his listeners were moved to tears while others were filled with rage. To everyone who attended his speeches, Tutu imparted the importance of peace as a guiding principle of change. He had come to embrace this philosophy during his years of religious training, and by reading the works of many religious leaders, such as Gandhi.
In addition to keeping black South Africans poor and without the ability to increase their resources, apartheid fostered other abuses. Innocent black citizens were sometimes beaten simply for being out at night past certain hours. They were accused of crimes they didn’t commit and jailed for no reason. They suffered violence at the hands of racist tormenters, who had been conditioned to believe that black people were deserving of such cruelty. Black South Africans who worked on behalf of anti-apartheid causes often endured the worst kinds of brutality.
Nelson Mandela, a human rights activist and the cofounder of the armed wing of the branch of the political party called the African National Congress, served as a powerful example of apartheid’s inequities. In 1962, Mandela was convicted of treason and other charges. He was sentenced to life in prison, where he spent twenty-seven years. Though Mandela was part of an armed group and Tutu had spent his life seeking peaceful resolution to conflicts, Mandela’s imprisonment and the ongoing mistreatment of black South Africans struck Tutu profoundly. The prejudice, and especially the violence, had to end.
In 1975, Tutu was appointed the Anglican dean of Johannesburg. A year later, he was named the bishop of Lesotho. In 1978, Tutu was chosen as the general secretary of the South African Council of Churches. These opportunities put Tutu in the international spotlight. When he spoke, the world listened.
South Africa’s black and white churches began joining with Tutu in an organized effort to end apartheid. Tutu gave many speeches and wrote several articles about the anguishes and the aspirations of black South Africans. He spoke and wrote with a passion, and his outspoken opinions caused an uproar in South Africa. In the hope that Tutu could be stifled, the South African government revoked his passport. After a protest march, Tutu was briefly put in jail. This did not diminish his resolve.
On June 16, 1976, in Soweto, nearly twenty thousand young people marched to oppose the government’s Afrikaans Medium Decree, an order that was passed in 1974 that forced all-black schools to use the Dutch language of Afrikaans. English was South Africa’s dominant language and was used in business and industry. If black students were taught the most important subjects in Afrikaans, this would continue to distance them from future opportunities. The Afrikaans Medium Decree did not apply to white schools. The government’s insistence of the use of Afrikaans had a direct link to apartheid — it was yet another attempt to suppress the educational opportunities of black youth.
Soweto march in 1976
During what became known as the Soweto Riots, hundreds of protestors were injured and killed. These events sent an urgent cry throughout the nation. Both black and white South Africans were incensed by the government’s ruthlessness during the Soweto uprising. Riots broke out in black townships, ignited by people who were angry and saddened by the overwhelming weight of the times.
Policeman grabs a black student during rioting in 1976
To protest the killing of so many black youths, hundreds of white students from the University of the Witwatersrand marched through the center of Johannesburg. Young black workers organized strikes. With more and more people protesting, an unstoppable campaign was building. Tutu saw this as an opportunity.
In response to the unfair decree and the violence that it caused, Tutu became a firm supporter of a nonviolent economic boycott of South Africa’s goods and services. He encouraged people throughout the world to stop buying anything produced in South Africa. This was very controversial. With fewer people buying South African products, it meant more South African workers were losing their jobs. The poorest workers were hit the hardest by the boycott. They struggled to support themselves and their families. Tutu had tremendous compassion for these men and women. Though they were suffering, he believed they were also helping the cause for human rights.
In 1984, Tutu received the Nobel Peace Prize, bestowed upon those whose actions toward a peaceful society are considered of the highest ideals. Tutu was the first South African to receive the prize since Albert Lutuli in 1960.
The Nobel committee stated that Tutu deserved the award “not only as a gesture of support to him and to the South African Council of Churches of which he is leader, but also to all individuals and groups in South Africa who, with their concern for human dignity, fraternity and democracy, incite the admiration of the world.”
Tutu and his wife, Leah, after Tutu was told of his Nobel Peace Prize in 1984
In his Nobel acceptance speech, Tutu called apartheid “an evil system, totally indefensible by normally acceptable methods. . . . When will we learn that human beings are of infinite value because they have been created in the image of God, and that it is a blasphemy to treat them as if they were less than this . . .” At the end of his speech, Tutu urged the world, “If we want peace . . . let us work for justice.”
In 1986, Tutu was selected to be the archbishop of Cape Town, which made him the first black person to hold the highest position in the South African Anglican Church. Adding to his already impressive list of accomplishments, in 1987, Tutu became president of the All Africa Conference of Churches, a role he would hold for ten years.
Tutu continued to work tirelessly on behalf of human rights, and was joined by many in his fight. But the only way true equality between black and white South Africans could be achieved would be by abolishing apartheid completely. Even though there were so many people against injustice, apartheid had been in place for so long, and it would take what seemed to many a miracle to eradicate it.
Fortunately, as the 1980s came to a close, there was mounting pressure from many sides, which started to erode apartheid’s power. More white people began to see apartheid as a negative force on the country. More and more, political leaders started to ask what good apartheid was serving.
Tutu and the Dalai Lama
Other countries became even more vocal about the importance of equal civil rights for all. In Africa, more countries were becoming democratic, allowing all of its citizens to vote. South Africa, which for centuries had denied black people the right to participate in elections, was beginning to feel the pressure to change this practice.
In 1990, under President Frederik Willem de Klerk’s leadership, the South African government began to repeal apartheid laws. With black empowerment beginning to take shape, apartheid started to crumble, and in 1993, apartheid came to an official end.
Nelson Mandela and South African president Frederik Willem de Klerk
The following year, the country’s constitution was redrafted. For the first time in South Africa’s history, black citizens, who comprised the majority, were allowed to vote.
When the polls opened on April 27, 1994, it was an election day like no other. There were several candidates running for president. Nelson Mandela, who had been released from prison four years prior, was now representing the African National Congress.
Black South Africans came out in droves to vote. Tutu was actively involved in rallying South African citizens to vote. This was a powerful act of nonviolence — striking a blow to injustice with ballots, not bullets. This was a rare time in the nation’s history when black citizens had the power to take control of their destinies.
A line of people waiting to vote in the 1994 election
On May 10, 1994, Nelson Mandela was elected South Africa’s first black president! Cheers of joy rang from black townships and villages. Recalling the triumph, Tutu silently told God that if he were to perish right then, it would be the perfect moment to die — his life’s work had been fulfilled. He once said, “I never doubted that ultimately we were going to be free.” Referring to the falsehood apartheid had wrought, Tutu said, “I knew there was no way in which a lie could prevail over the truth, darkness over light, death over life.”
Because apartheid had been in practice for more than forty years, its effects had stained South Africa’s legacy. The pain of so much hatred could not be erased right away. One of President Mandela’s first actions as the country’s new leader was to ask Tutu to become chairman of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The Commission had been established to allow people to make restitution for the heinous acts they had inflicted during apartheid’s rein.
Tutu saw the commission as a good first step in fostering forgiveness for past crimes and moving toward a bright future. Those who had committed human rights violations were encouraged to come forward and admit their wrongdoings. They would then be forgiven. Allowing citizens to make amends for their past crimes helped reduce future violent acts. As more people felt absolved of their former actions, they were less compelled to repeat violent behaviors.
About South Africa’s struggle and his role in promoting peace during a troubled time, Tutu has said, “In South Africa, we could not have achieved our freedom . . . without . . . the use of nonviolent means. . . .”