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The ANC, which Mandela joins and eventually becomes president of, is the major political party in South Africa opposed to apartheid. It was a multi-racial coalition that aimed to incorporate all opponents of apartheid, and for much of its existence, it was illegal because the White South Africans in the government believed it was dangerous.
African National Congress (ANC) Quotes in Long Walk to Freedom
The Long Walk to Freedom quotes below are all either spoken by African National Congress (ANC) or refer to African National Congress (ANC). For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 24
Quotes
My devotion to the ANC and the struggle was unremitting. This disturbed Evelyn. She had always assumed that politics was a youthful diversion, that I would someday return to the Transkei and practice there as a lawyer.
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Chapter 39
Quotes
I did not regard the verdict as a vindication of the legal system or evidence that a black man could get a fair trial in a white man’s court. It was the right verdict and a just one, but it was largely as a result of a superior defense team and the fair-mindedness of the panel of these particular judges.
Chapter 45
Quotes
In planning the direction and form that MK would take, we considered four types of violent activities: sabotage, guerrilla warfare, terrorism, and open revolution. For a small and fledgling army, open revolution was inconceivable. Terrorism inevitably reflected poorly on those who used it, undermining any public support it might otherwise garner. Guerrilla warfare was a possibility, but since the ANC had been reluctant to embrace violence at all, it made sense to start with the form of violence that inflicted the least harm against individuals: sabotage.
Chapter 69
Quotes
The High Organ was the source of some controversy because of its ethnic composition: all four permanent members were from Xhosa backgrounds. This was a matter of coincidence rather than design; the senior ANC leadership on the island, the only four to have served on the National Executive Committee, happened to be Xhosa. It would not have been proper to take a less senior comrade and put him on the High Organ simply because he was not a Xhosa. But the fact that the High Organ was Xhosa-dominated disturbed me because it seemed to reinforce the mistaken perception that we were a Xhosa organization.
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Chapter 104
Quotes
Despite his seemingly progressive actions, Mr. de Klerk was by no means the great emancipator. He was a gradualist, a careful pragmatist. He did not make any of his reforms with the intention of putting himself out of power. He made them for precisely the opposite reason: to ensure power for the Afrikaner in a new dispensation. He was not yet prepared to negotiate the end of white rule.
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African National Congress (ANC) Term Timeline in Long Walk to Freedom
The timeline below shows where the term African National Congress (ANC) appears in Long Walk to Freedom. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 9
...only part of the truth to Dr. Xuma, a friend of Jongintaba’s involved with the ANC who promises them work. But the foreman at the mine, Piliso, only has a clerical...
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Chapter 11
...in 1941, although many don’t believe the promises about democratic principles. The African National Congress (ANC) creates its own charter in response, calling for full citizenship for all African people. Mandela...
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Chapter 12
...gets sick and dies at 33, shocking other activists like Sisulu. Later that year, the ANC and two of the Indian resistance groups sign a document called the Doctors’ Pact to...
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Chapter 13
Malan begins to implement apartheid. Dr. Xuma, the head of the ANC, doesn’t like the tactics of some of the more activist members, and so the activists...
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Chapter 14
...to taxi other activists around, taking messages to Dr. Moroka. Mandela and others in the ANC lead civil disobedience against Dr. Malan’s policies, inspired in part by Gandhi.
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...the campaign, putting out propaganda to smear the leaders. Police infiltrate local branches of the ANC. One day while Mandela is working as a law clerk, someone comes with a warrant...
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Dr. Moroka, who was also arrested, causes a stir in the ANC by taking on his own attorney, rather than being tried together with all the other...
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Chapter 15
At 1952’s annual ANC conference, Chief Albert Luthuli takes over, poised to lead in a more activist direction. Mandela...
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Chapter 17
The Nationalist government begins evacuating Africans and forcing them to live in new neighborhoods. The ANC gets involved with trying to stop these removal efforts. At one meeting on the subject,...
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Chapter 18
...even more severe bans, again limiting his travel and forcing him to resign from the ANC. Mandela is crushed and doesn’t like being forced to the sidelines of a cause that...
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Chapter 19
Because Mandela can’t attend the ANC conference, another member of the executive reads the speech he had prepared, which becomes known...
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Chapter 20
...to hold rallies about the government’s plan to remove African people from their homes. The ANC continues to face arguments from within about when, if ever, to use violence. In 1953,...
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The ANC attempt a school boycott, but it’s disorganized and doesn’t fully succeed, although the government does...
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While the ANC is finalizing a charter on the second day of the convention, police raid it and...
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Chapter 21
...show a lot of courage—helps rejuvenate Mandela when he sees the enthusiasm of a local ANC meeting.
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Chapter 22
When Mandela returns to Johannesburg, he gets caught up in a controversy over whether ANC should participate in the Bantu Authorities. Mandela thinks it could be a good opportunity to...
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Chapter 24
...“submissiveness” that Jehovah’s Witnesses seem to preach. Evelyn struggles to understand Mandela’s commitment to the ANC and activism, which forces him to have a demanding schedule. Tensions rise, and when Mandela...
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Chapter 27
...1958, where 3 million White people can vote but 13 million African people still can’t. ANC tries to organize a strike around the election, but it fails to come together. The...
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Chapter 30
...group called the Pan Africanist Conference (PAC) arises, with a specifically African perspective that contradicts ANC’s multiracial perspective. Despite this rivalry, Mandela knows and respects the PAC president Robert Sobukwe and...
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Chapter 32
...unexpectedly dies from a stroke. The prosecution brings witnesses who fail to convincingly prove that ANC is full of Communists. Still, they have an audio recording of one prominent activist named...
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Chapter 33
In December 1959, the annual ANC conference takes place in the middle of the protests against passes. The Nationalists are fearful...
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...finally takes notice and blames the South African government. Mandela, Luthuli, and others in the ANC organize a massive protest on March 28. It’s so large that the government declares a...
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Chapter 37
In September, when the Emergency is over, Mandela and the rest of the ANC meet secretly to plan for the future. Mandela is so busy that he sees little...
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Chapter 39
...the courthouse is crowded. The judge declares that the prosecution has failed to prove that ANC is a Communist organization, and people cheer. Mandela is allowed to go free, but he...
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Chapter 41
...speak out strongly against nonviolence. Mandela receives authorization to create a separate organization from the ANC that can use force.
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Chapter 42
...an army called the Umkhonto we Sizwe (“The Spear of the Nation,” abbreviated MK). Unlike ANC, Mandela allows White members in MK. Mandela starts reading about people like Fidel Castro, Mao...
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Chapter 45
...using terrorism or guerrilla warfare if sabotage isn’t effective. Many of Mandela’s recruits come from ANC, and he worries that some are no longer performing their ANC duties. In December, Mandela...
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Chapter 47
...himself. Still, some at the conference worry about the lack of unity and coordination between ANC and PAC, but Mandela tries to reassure them that everyone is working toward a common...
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Chapter 49
...a secret meeting with his allies, and they plan to make minor changes to the ANC so that it is easier for foreign governments to understand their goals. One day, while...
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Chapter 52
...is somewhere in prison and hopes to see him and put aside any competition between ANC and PAC. They and a couple other political prisoners get to speak briefly in the...
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Chapter 53
While Mandela’s trial is going in in 1962, the ANC holds its first annual conference in a few years. ANC finally acknowledges MK as its...
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Chapter 67
...even raiding her home while she was getting dressed. They talk about family and reference ANC matters in code. Not long after, police arrest Winnie, and she spends four days in...
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Chapter 69
After a few years in prison, Mandela despairs that the state has grown stronger, and ANC has grown weaker. Still, the liberation struggle continues in other parts of Africa, with MK...
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Chapter 76
...downtime at the quarry, Sisulu teaches a course he’s invented about the history of the ANC. Mandela also busies himself with legal work for African people who can’t afford a lawyer...
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Chapter 79
...Kruger, the minister of prisons, comes to visit Mandela. He still believes that Mandela and ANC are violent Communists, so Mandela tries to explain to him ANC’s slow process toward incorporating...
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Chapter 80
...their policy of focusing on Blackness rather than all races. Physical fights break out among ANC, PAC, and BCM, but Mandela tries to promote unity.
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Chapter 86
...will distract him from the broader liberation struggle and that traditional leaders might counterbalance the ANC. The Thembu chiefs have a leadership crisis: Sabata, the main traditional chief, has been deposed...
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Chapter 87
...a prosperous White suburb. Mandela is disoriented and believes that authorities are trying to stop ANC’s influence in Robben Island by removing him. Despite this downside, the food at Pollsmoor is...
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Chapter 89
...circumstances into an opportunity, making a secret plan that he doesn’t even tell his fellow ANC members on the rare moments when he can still see them.
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Chapter 90
...that they should also speak to Tambo, who is currently the real leader of the ANC. Meanwhile, Tambo has been leading people in civil disobedience, and international pressure on South Africa...
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Chapter 93
...meet more, Mandela finds that they’re surprisingly open-minded and don’t actually know much about the ANC. He tells them that when it comes to violence, “it is always the oppressor, not...
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Chapter 100
...de Klerk’s actions. Mandela would like to take a leisurely trip to Transkei, but the ANC has plans for him first.
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Chapter 102
On February 27th, Mandela reports to the leadership of ANC and also meets with several other African heads of state. Eventually, he embarks on a...
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Chapter 103
When he returns to South Africa, Mandela has to deal with issues within the ANC. One involves Chief Buthelezi, who split off from the ANC and now leads a violent...
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Chapter 106
...and violence has only gotten worse. The government led by de Klerk recently arrested several ANC members. Mandela believes that the violence in the country is an impediment to future negotiations,...
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Chapter 107
...finally returns from exile abroad to South Africa. He gives a controversial speech about how ANC must push international countries to start rolling back sanctions against South Africa. Meanwhile, to try...
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Chapter 108
...which Mandela grants, but after de Klerk gives a speech that questions the trustworthiness of ANC, Mandela is angry with him. Six weeks after the beginning of CODESA 1 (the first...
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Chapter 110
...Mandela and de Klerk are still at odds on several issues. As negotiations stall, the ANC adopts a policy of “rolling mass action” that incorporates strikes, demonstrations, and boycotts. Tensions rise...
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...agreement angers Chief Buthelezi and causes Inkatha to drop out of negotiations, abandoning both the ANC and the Nationalists. Aside from this setback, the Record of Understanding leads to an agreement...
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Chapter 111
...Qunu, which is completed in the fall of 1993. In April of 1993, a popular ANC and MK member named Chris Hani gets assassinated by white supremacists, and some fear that...
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Chapter 112
...to campaign in earnest for the election, traveling the country to hear people’s opinions. The ANC puts together a 150-page document about how to rejuvenate the country.
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Chapter 114
...and Mandela votes at a high school near where John Dube, first president of the ANC, is buried. A reporter asks him who he’s voting for, and he jokes that he...
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Chapter 115
...he grew up that his boyhood feelings of freedom were an illusion. He joined the ANC and the liberation struggle to try to get back this feeling of freedom for everyone,...
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