Two young nations, still walking

While the United States and South Africa are separated by the Atlantic and a 16-hour flight from Johannesburg, both nations share tragic and hopeful histories in roughly equal measure. Both are, in the context of older nations, still youthful and are navigating the growing pains of nationhood. 

America declared that all men are created equal, while slavery remained. South Africa spoke of nationhood while apartheid denied the full humanity of the majority. 

And yet both nations also contain the capacity for moral self-correction. America fought a civil war. South Africa ended apartheid and chose, however imperfectly, the difficult work of democracy over revenge. Fourteen years apart, both countries elected their first black presidents. Those moments did not erase history but showed that history is not fixed. Lincoln spoke of the better angels of our nature. Dr. King said the arc of the moral universe is long but bends toward justice. In other words, goodness prevails, but slowly, and never on its own. 

History, even though it might not appear so while we are living in it, is not defined by a single moment, but by the collective weight of choices over time. 

Perhaps that is the lesson of young nations. They make mistakes and, as a result, disappoint their own ideals. But their greatness is not found in pretending the failures did not happen. It is found in the willingness to keep reaching toward the promise they made at the beginning and making no room for complacency and understanding that there is no permanent destination. As Nelson Mandela put it, “After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb … with freedom come responsibilities, and I dare not linger, for my long walk is not ended.” 

As America celebrates 250 years of independence, South Africans look across the Atlantic, not at a finished project, but at a fellow traveller. May both our nations continue to climb.