He spent 27 years in prison. On Robben Island, he cracked limestone in a quarry and was permitted one letter every six months. When he walked free in 1990, the world expected rage. What came out instead was a man who invited his former jailer to his inauguration. Mandela became South Africa's first Black president in 1994, inheriting a country that could have burned. It didn't. He died in December 2013, ninety-five years old. The question his whole life answered: what does it take to forgive something like that?
December 5, 2013
13 years ago
What Else Happened on December 5
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