I come not to bury Mr. Mandela in the mire that he was involved in much earlier in his career that was destined to transform South Africa from an apartheid state into what it is today - one of the most violent and disease ridden countries on earth. Without him things could have been worse, but I am not sure how much.
And, that cannot be entirely blamed on Nelson Mandela, because he was in his latter years more of a peacenik than rabble-rouser. In the end he became a more gracious, kinder and gentler man, even while his family has been recently fighting with pitchforks over his estate. Typical. Mandela was "Anti capitalism, anti power of money, and in favor of property redistribution." No wonder President Obama is flying the flag at half mast in his honor. But, despite his early communist leanings and latter more socialist positions, he had no visible bitterness, which is more than I can say for Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Tavis Smiley, Cornel West et al today.
Winnie, Nelson's wife for some time, continued to be ultra violent before and after he divorced her, because of her unfaithfulness. It cannot be proven that Winnie Mandela's horrific acts of necklacing (burning tires around neck of victims), rapes, frauds and other killings and kidnappings were urged by her husband, but he certainly did not object, as much as I have studied.
We do know that Mr. Mandela staunchly supported the neo Communist African National Congress, which itself could be accused of the genocide - of whites, especially white farmers in South Africa, by the tens of thousands.
If Nelson Mandela can be called the Father of Modern South Africa, then his lionizers should also recognize that South Africa today leads the world in infected HIV/AIDS victims (possibly 25% of the population), violent rapes, including the brutal raping of infants and children, murders, kidnappings, thefts and lesser crimes - which are greatly under reported in order to protect NM's legacy and preserve the image of a South African Camelot.
Its as if George Washington, after fighting an 8 year Revolutionary War, became President of the newly formed United States, and soon after, the U.S. became the leading country in the world in the commission of rapes, kidnappings, murders, and HIV/AIDS infections.
I will give Martin Luther King more credit in that Mr. King can never be accused of ignoring the plight of America's African Americans and their problems today - violence, rapes, knockouts, reverse racism against whites, unwed mothers, etc. unlike liberal black and white leaders at this time. Unfortunately, MLK was assassinated long before blacks so completely distanced themselves from an American culture after establishing their own, distinct African American culture, which prosperity is declining rapidly, even after electing the first half black president.
I have no objection to the mass media (even Fox) lionizing Nelson Mandela for all his trials, tribulations, and possible patience of a saint (I'm not sure he was Christian, as he was an avid student of Islam), but it would be a travesty if we did not consider the present state of the State of South Africa.