The
following is one of the weekly “Hook to the Liver” columns by WBC President
Dr. José Sulaimán that are published in El Universal every Sunday. From
July 22, translated from Spanish:
HOOK
TO THE LIVER
By José Sulaimán
Nelson
Mandela and Human Equality
Nelson
Mandela became 94 years old a few days ago. He was a good amateur boxer during his
college years and became one of the greatest personalities in history by his
life’s devotion of human equality.
This
brought to my mind those yesteryears of 1947 when I started my studies in the
United States. Those were not the times of easy air flights, and they were very
expensive for a kid like me. I used to take the popular old Greyhounds from
Laredo, Texas, all the way to Massachusetts, where I was in college, and where
my father's family lived and still live today. I felt in those times a deep
sorrow to see that all people of the black race were sent to the back of the
bus. There were separate toilets for black men and white men at the Greyhound
stations all across the U.S. Several times I went into the black men’s toilets, as I couldn't figure
where should I go, and I did it with pride. On one occasion, all of the
passengers got together to forcefully demand that the bus driver bring to the
front seats an old black lady who was very sick, and we did it, even after his
strong position that it was against the law. I was so happy to see the Kennedy
years when a rebellion started in
the southern states changed all that. All of that, and the tax pardon for Joe
Louis issued by President John Kennedy, made him my supreme
hero.
Years
went by and in 1975, when I was elected president of the WBC for the first time,
I heard with passion and emotion the name of Nelson Mandela and his life
story by my unforgettable Colonel Hamouda, Dr. Joseph Fofe and Ame Taieb Houichi. My first decision and action was seeking the vote for
the expulsion of South African boxing from the WBC, which was still very small,
with little attention from the world. We started a strong campaign to stop the
famous past champions who were invited to South Africa. Muhammad Ali, Larry Holmes, Sugar Ray Robinson, and others followed our request
to not go. Floyd Patterson was the exception. He did not understand nor
did he pay any attention to what apartheid was. He visited the land where black
people were treated with the despicable and nauseating practice of apartheid.
The WBC became the first sports institution to go all the way in the
struggle
against
apartheid, for which we got a recognition from the United Nations in New York,
which I keep as my most beloved award of my life.
Mandela
was freed after 28 years in jail for his life struggle to bring equality to his
land, but with conditions. He declined his conditional freedom and remained in
jail until the time that the South African government erased all conditions. He
jumped from there to be the first black president in that country. The white
government had to accept the majority voting of the people and gave way to a
hero, who struggled all his life against apartheid. He proved it by being a
president for whom human equality was his law and never took revenge from those
who kept him 28 years in jail, for no reason but his peaceful objection to
apartheid. The WBC received a letter of gratitude and respect from President
Mandela himself for the unwavering 19-year struggle of the WBC in support of our
hero Nelson Mandela. That letter is kept in my heart as one of the
greatest recognitions of my passing through life.
The
recognition of the WBC by the UN in New York was one of the most sensitive
ceremonies of my life. It was delivered to us by the Secretary General of the
UN, Perez de Cuellar, and General Joseph Garba, the UN Secretary
of Security. Many superstars of boxing were there: Muhammad Ali, Carlos Monzon, Sugar Ray Robinson, Sugar Ray Leonard, Roberto Duran, Larry Holmes, Gerry
Cooney, Alexis Argüello, Ken Norton, and many, many more great champions,
as well as Don King, Jarvis Astaire, and Micky Duff. At that moment we awarded Nelson
Mandela with the human equality award, when he was still in
jail.
From
my hero Mandela I learned many things, especially the special humility of a hero
that made him bigger. I learned not to take vengeance on your detractors, but to
the contrary. Mandela was as simple as a kid, as he showed by putting his arm on
my shoulder when I was walking him to his car. I learned to live with impeccable
dignity and never to give it up. I was also impressed by his strong defense of
his principles, integrity, justice and respect for all - to be a leader by
etching and convincing, and never by using the hatchet. I had learned since my
childhood that all human beings are equal, since my little town of 800 people
town, Jaumave, in the mountains of Tamaulipas, as well as from the people of my
hometown Ciudad Victoria, all in the state of Tamaulipas, now under the attack
of the times, and also from my beloved country of Mexico, where I have never
seen or felt discrimination.
Long
live Nelson Mandela, my hero.
Thank
you for reading my thoughts.
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