Forgive, but don't forget
Northern Ireland. Israel. Afghanistan. Bosnia. Liberia. South Carolina. What do these and other locations throughout the world have in common?
Their citizens are looking to South Africa for ways to resolve their often bloody differences. They ask:
Could South Africa's truth and reconciliation process be used to end centuries of fighting in Northern Ireland and the Middle East?
Could it be used to heal ethnic wounds in the Slavic states and on the African continent, where genocide has replaced the brutality of colonialism?
Could it even bring healing to communities, such as Greensboro, S.C., that remain divided by the crimes left unsolved and justice undone in the wake of the tumultuous civil rights era?
Hoping to answer these questions, representatives of war-torn countries and racially divided communities are traveling to South Africa. I joined the pilgrimage last fall as a member of a delegation sent by the Association for Conflict Resolution, a Washington, D.C., based international organization of mediators, arbitrators and others seeking to resolve conflicts.
Who would have thought a decade ago that South Africa would be a positive model for any nation or people?
For decades, the country's white minority maintained power by enforcing apartheid a system that separated South Africa's population by race. Basic human rights, educational opportunities and economic advantages were doled out, with whites getting the most, blacks the least and the coloreds (the label applied to those of mixed race or Asian) something in between.
South Africa's apartheid was a brutal, government-enforced categorical denial of human dignity and rights designed to keep a minority white population in control.
For decades the world tried to ignore its brutality and injustice. After all, South Africa was rich in the many things the world coveted diamonds, gold, etc. It was a necessary port for circumnavigation. In some ways, it became synonymous with "privilege."
But the majority black population became restive. It also became politically active, demanding equality in all aspects of life and justice.
The white government met this unrest with increased brutality and laws that imposed even harsher racial deprivation.
Race riots and government-directed attacks on dissidents reached a peak in the mid-1970s. The military's attack on unarmed black schoolchildren in the Johannesburg suburb of Soweto is considered a turning point.
The world no longer was willing to ignore South Africa's cruelty to its black citizens. South Africa and its resolute white government became a pariah. Most nations condemned the regime and imposed economic sanctions. Apartheid eventually collapsed under the pressure.
Credit for South Africa's amazingly peaceful transition to a democracy shared by all races is given to former President F. W. deKlerk and the man who succeeded him, Nelson Mandela. Both won Nobel Peace Prizes for their efforts.
DeKlerk, who spoke at the 2002 Bakersfield Business Conference about South Africa's transition, succeeded the ailing, hardened apartheid advocate President P.W. Botha in 1989. By then, white South Africans had grown weary of the international sanctions and internal strife. South Africa's economy was staggering from the isolation.
DeKlerk initiated reforms, including legalizing the African National Congress and freeing its imprisoned leader, Nelson Mandela. Despite threats of violence, the first national all-race election was held in 1994, bringing the ANC into power and replacing deKlerk with Mandela. Last spring, South Africa held its third peaceful all-race election.
Healing decades of racial animosity and moving South Africa forward were shared goals of deKlerk, Mandela and South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who headed up the country's Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
With the end of apartheid, South Africans reached a critical juncture. The triumphant blacks could do as many of their neighbors had done - punish those who had tortured them for decades. Or they could reconcile, forgive and work with their former oppressors. Their choice: "restorative" or "retributive" justice.
It is the South Africans' decision to follow the path of restorative justice and forgiveness that has so intrigued the world. It is why South Africa today continues to progress, despite the legacy of apartheid chronic economic and social problems.
Over the course of two years, blacks and whites were given amnesty if they testified before Tutu's commission and provided full accounts of their crimes - their involvement in the kidnappings, torture and death squads that defined apartheid. It was a chance for South Africans to bare their souls and ease their consciences in public.
South Africa's success has attracted the attention of those struggling for peace in their nations, their neighborhoods and their personal lives.
But Tutu warns that the South African experience may not be transferable. It emerged from the presence of unique individuals men and women committed to their country, peace and reconciliation at a time when South Africa needed this commitment and understanding the most. Likely it is a combination of events and personalities that cannot be replicated.
However, Tutu believes the concepts of the reconciliation process that led to peace in South Africa can be adapted to resolve conflicts between nations, as well as individuals. He will soon open the Desmond Tutu Peace Center in Capetown to promote his belief.
Tutu's center is one of many throughout the world that have developed out of the realization that reconciliation and forgiveness can be more successful and beneficial than retribution.
The mental, physical and political benefits of forgiving reconciling is also the subject of a multi-million-dollar research foundation, whose honorary co-chairs are Tutu and former U.S. President Jimmy Carter. (See the Web site www.forgiving.org.)
At a South African conference on reconciliation last month, deKlerk observed that forgiveness is essential not only because it is a central biblical commandment, but because "it is critically important for our own spiritual and mental well-being and for the search for lasting peace."
"Until we truly forgive our enemies, we carry within our hearts a bitterness that can poison every other aspect of our lives. By continuing to nurse grievances against those who have done us wrong, we give them continuing power against us."
Jack Hardisty retired in December as Bakersfield's development services director. He is a managing partner in South Valley Solutions, a consulting and mediation firm. E-mail jack.hardisty@cox.net.
