President Clinton Tours Robben Island (1998)

now happy I bet you means Oh ah yeah you think of your time you're given here begin you are getting an increasing list of distinguished and if I may just mention some of the names of your country who visit Kentucky honored us with their visit of course the first Lenox about this time last year and you are very very beautiful and talented daughter Chelsea who I will never forget because she had read the autobiography so intelligently and she remembered so much of it so many intelligent questions our economic success yesterday when you address the Parliament of the Democratic South Africa and today you have come to see what preceded April of 94 when democracy came into our country just a very brief background a very brief background of the type of discrimination the callousness of apathy as it applied even in a party of Klein Inc relation the first and best of all the white chocolate the second on the leather were coloured and Indian like myself and at the bottom of the letter were actually like the pleasure when we arrived here in June of 1964 it was bitterly cold raining windy and when we had to change into prison clothes the president's sister Becky this is ensued who wore all my seniors in age and I was ours was they were all given short from Russian out behind the job same type of discrimination in the form we're at our get two spoons of sugar they would get one spoon they would not get played out as great so from the start it was a struggle in supporting on this theory and struggle and hunger strikes and so forth the first victory was after a few years when we managed to equalize the clothing and later of the many years we equalize the pool so we were sentenced to hard labor we had to work with freaking shovels point out other things both we had never done before so the first months because bleeding hands and blisters but that was a challenge because that is what the other side and identified to crush our spirits and it was a challenge that we dare not lose we did not do that was repetitive I just want to cite one example of the mentality of people who are supposed to look after us we of course on this side of the prison were isolated from the part of the of the political resistance completely isolated now the other prisoners on the other side that is the political prisoners were working as a stone quarry and there was an altercation between a prisoner mr. blombo and a water he then asked the prisoner to dig a hole and bury him up to here because a sweltering day and when the prisoner complained of thirst the unit that was the type of the mentality of these people you have no doubt come across the president's autobiography the long walk to freedom so actually just mentioned this wall where this wall is used to be the president garden and after the manuscript was written and the completed form was given over to our experts who transcribed it into small handwriting and smuggled it out of the country we buried the manuscript here the original and when they started building this wall through our garden that manuscript was discovered and we were lent money three of us the president has brought me to a lot of trouble even in jail so we will punish it through the climate of our study for four years and at night for a Buddhist say that they were intruder because the method was how bright the magazine and when I finish a chapter I give it to him and the world as a sort of because we have no weapons like so that they would make corrections and then I'll rewrite the chapter as how they came into trouble because the architect we're connecting with each other for developers so 75% or more for what you read today in the norm of the film was written here Robben Island was the test in addition to the philosophy of liberation organizations we were taught that we were fighting against the system against these people on Roman Island on the one hand we had the callousness the brutality the sadism of the authorities who are hell-bent on strapping on morale and our spirits on the other hand Robben Island symbolized as trial a triumph of the human spirit over here a triumph of good over already in short a triumph of the new South Africa over the load the oppressors failed in their mission to induce a collective amnesia among the people of this country because we were told in so many words in five years time nobody would remember the name of Mandela and they did everything possible to induce that collective envision they fail they failed in their endeavor to crush the spirits of the prisoners they failed to deprive the people of the dignity and the humanity and of the civilized values they failed in every system mr. president everything I have said is symbolized in one person and that is our presence it was his leadership discouraged his wisdom his foresight that guided us through the 18 years that we spent here and the rest of all sentences which spent previous offenses in other prisons so we owe the transformation that we talk of the seeds were here when the other side lists all of the enemy at the time set out to crush our spirits and Robben Island was tailor-made to induce a spirit of hatred a spirit of revenge retribution but thanks to the leadership of our president thanks to the philosophy of the liberation movement we did not fall into those emotions of paper so the seeds of a negotiation process were here on Robben Island because we realize and we maintained all the time that there is no such thing as driving five million wiping to the sea they are not African citizens they may be on the opposite side when freedom towns we have to work together to build a new country and again we have to think how pleasant spotted Robben Island is unique I think in the world I think it is one place where from prison almost literally from prison to Parliament to president mr. president we are confident that when you leave Robben Island you will leave as a friend of roth iras you carry the message of the triumph of Robben Island to your people and to people everywhere and we have confidence that begins count of you in future for your continued moral support and when we developed Robben Island as we are planning to do as its universal symbol we hope we can count on you also for your material support I thank you very much welcome again your friends in my Jetta there'll be no questions at the moment the inline Kelly I was amusing how could I even question when he comes oh come on we have India this - notes below that would do something with the whole idea with the top all of you in the trailer otherwise you die it's assessing we all are mighty Wow when the negative well your sanity you're one of us have a better friend there's a serious than Mahal Oh firefire please yeah ladies and gentlemen of the media now this is not a press conference you've had your share in Cape Town and we don't believe in double peaches but what we want to do now is the president is going to hand over to President Clinton a quarry Rock with a certificate authenticated by O president that this is the genuine quarry rock from the quarry where he worked for 13 years because as you said you an answer one yeah just say this is not a press conference any question must be confined to Robben Island and Robben Island overcome for some customers come on just interested in your experiences we'd like to hear first-hand from you about your experiences in this cell well they were pleasant unpleasant experiences and it depends how you look at the situation as you know right down the center rules and in many parts of the world there are men and women who are in able to can disaster what would crush many people who can that disaster into each people and that is what is men here a connecticut burden and others did and so when I come here I call their care into memory that great saga in which the authorities who are pitiless insensitive a crew nevertheless failed in their evil intentions they were responsible for that feedback to the islands many tonight what star blows a bizarre that's ok step touch that stuff well there is no doubt that I can as I said at the press conference that the visit by President Clinton is a high-water mark information to all the visible health and coming to Robben Island is to urge something very important but significant achievement no chemicals are happening and we are pissed that element the president I would encourage what did you coming

Channel: clintonlibrary42

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Keywords: William, Bill, Jefferson, Clinton, Presidential, Library, National, Archives, and, Records, Administration, NARA, 1998, nelson, mandela, south, africa

Id: ndPrtbWCwVM

Length: 28min 20sec (1700 seconds)

Published: Thu Nov 01 2012