Awards

In 1960, the Nobel Peace Prize Committee made history by awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to Albert Luthuli in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the non-violent resistance struggle against apartheid in South Africa . Not only did Luthuli become the first African to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, but it was also the first time that the prize was awarded purely for the advancement of human rights. Luthuli's Nobel Prize came at a critical juncture in the history of South Africa . The events at Sharpeville, Nyanga and Langa not only irretrievably focused world attention on the brutal oppression of the majority of South Africans perpetuated by the policy of apartheid, but the Nationalist Government's response to these events of instituting even harsher measures of oppression and of outlawing the African National Congress (ANC) and the Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC) also prompted the struggle movement to take up arms and thus to abandon peaceful and non-violent means as the primary form through which apartheid was to be resisted. In this context, Luthuli's Nobel Prize was endowed with acute irony in the midst of a decisive transition that irrevocably changed the socio-political landscape of South Africa in the decades that followed.

The 1960 Nobel Peace Prize in context

Introduction

The year 1960 dawned on a world in flux. The world's political landscape was changing, as human rights became an increasingly important factor in the conduct of international relations after the Second World War. In Africa and Southeast Asia , decades and even centuries of European colonialism was determinedly giving way to political freedom and independence, while the Civil Rights Movement's vociferous campaigning for political and socio-economic equality and inclusivity was fuelling a dramatic transformation of the United States of America towards a veritable "Land of the Free". In South Africa , however, the Nationalist Government resolved foolhardy to swim against the international tide of political change and transformation, choosing instead to implement its apartheid policies with even more zeal than before. Yet the idiosyncrasy of South Africa could not render it immune to the influence of a rapidly and fundamentally changing world, and instead of effectively countering these international developments, it rather served to rouse the national liberation movement (in which the African National Congress or ANC was the most prominent) into an armed resistance struggle after relying on peaceful measures of resistance for over forty years. The confluence of these trends provides a powerful contextualisation to the awarding of the 1960 Nobel Peace Prize to Albert Luthuli. Each trend will be discussed in turn below.

Colonialism

Colonialism had its roots in trade between Europe and the rest of the world. Trade links between Western Europe , Africa and the Far East has existed and had been steadily developed since the time of the ancient civilisations of Egypt and Greece , but always took place through intermediaries, which of course raised the costs involved and limited the profits of the Western European traders. In Africa , Arab nomads had transported gold and other commodities like salt across the Sahara from West Africa , while spices had been shipped from India and the Far East through Muslim and Venetian merchants. Following major developments in maritime technology (such as the invention of the compass and astrolabium) during the 15 th century, Western Europe entered an era of extensive overseas exploration and economic expansion as its merchants sought to cut out the middlemen and go directly to the sources of the commodities. As a result, trade between Western Europe and Africa , the Americas , India and the Far East greatly expanded, and as the Industrial Revolution fuelled trade competition for commodities and markets between the Western European states, they jealously protected their spheres of trade influence through violence and conquest.

European expansion took place most rapidly in Africa . Until the 1870's, Western European interest in Africa appeared to be marginal and even to be waning, but the activities of Belgian king Leopold II soon spurred renewed expansion of unprecedented intensity. As a private entrepreneur, Leopold established a trading company and sent an adventurer, Henry Stanley, to establish trading posts, to sign treaties with local chiefs and to claim territory for the company in the Congo River Basin (present day Democratic Republic of the Congo ). Leopold's activities prompted France to immediately establish a French protectorate on the north bank of the Congo River (present day Republic of the Congo ) and the so-called 'Scramble for Africa ' was on.

In order to lay the ground rules for what was termed 'the development' of Africa south of the Sahara , France and Germany called the Berlin Conference of 1884. The Conference ruled that a European country could only claim a territory if they occupied it, thus unleashing a mad race between the Western European states to claim the interior of Africa for themselves. By 1914, the whole of Africa had been colonised with the exceptions of the independent African states of Liberia and Abyssinia . For Western Europe , colonialism promised enhanced international prestige and increased economic profits, for Africans it held brutal economic exploitation and political oppression.

The First World War represented a turning point in the history of colonialism. The war itself had shown ordinary Africans that the Europeans were not invincible, and the principle of self-determination championed for European nationalities at the Versailles Peace Conference following the end of the war, stimulated African intellectuals to intensify their anti-colonial efforts. Revolts against the colonial governments started to increase in number, scope and intensity, but were mercilessly crushed. During the Second World War, however, the African liberation movements were again encouraged in their anti-colonial struggle by the adoption of the Atlantic Charter between the United States and Britain . The Charter contained a number of principles that the two states agreed should underpin a new world order following the defeat of Nazi Germany. Among these principles, Principle 3 affirmed "the right of all peoples to choose the form of government under which they will live" and stipulated that "sovereign rights and self-government [be] restored to those who have been forcibly deprived of them".

After the Second World War, the massive devastation caused by the war forced the colonial powers to concentrate their attention on domestic issues such as infrastructure rebuilding, while the developing Cold War ensured that the colonial powers' international relations were preoccupied with European events. As a result, the colonial powers were increasingly reluctant to engage in fighting with their rebellious colonies. Moreover, they could hardly justify continuing to deny Africans' and other peoples' right to self-determination after waging war to destroy Nazi imperialism and racism. The final death knell for the European empires was rung and starting with India in 1947, a wave of independence swept over the Far East and Africa during the next three decades. In 1957, Ghana gained independence from Britain and became the first African colony to receive independence from a colonial power. Under the leadership of the staunchly anti-colonialist Kwame Nkrumah , Ghana became a powerful source of inspiration for liberation movements the continent over and resistance to colonial rule escalated even further.

As the one state after the other gained independence, the nature of the international community of states changed as the former colonies soon developed into a major bloc on the international stage. Using their growing influence in international forums such as the United Nations (UN), these newly independent states put increasing pressure on the colonial powers to grant independence to their remaining colonies. These developments meant that the nature of international politics was simultaneously transformed to include human rights as a major issue and focus area in the relations between states.

The Civil Rights Movement

Human rights did not only become a major issue in international affairs, but also had a dramatic impact on the domestic affairs of states. This was especially felt in the United States of America , where the Civil Rights Movement was increasingly demanding equal rights for African-Americans (Blacks).

African-Americans comprise some 12% (33 million) of the total population of the USA . The vast majority of them are descended from slaves brought to the United States from Africa between the 16 th and 18 th centuries. Despite the 13 th , 14 th and 15 th Amendments to the US Constitution that respectively abolished slavery, established citizen's rights and protected voting rights, African-Americans were legally unequal to their white fellow citizens due to the official 'separate but equal' policy that segregated housing, public services, education and so on. These separate facilities were certainly not equal, however.

In 1909, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was formed. The most important and most effective black pressure group, it initially concentrated on securing the advancement of African-Americans through the courts. During the 1950's, the NAACP scored a number of important legal victories, among which was the US Supreme Courts decision that the application of the 'separate but equal' policy and its related regulations in public education was unconstitutional. As black resistance against racial discrimination increased in the light of these victories, however, so did their tactics.

An early sign of this change in tactics was the boycott of buses in Montgomery , Alabama from December 1955 until December 1956. African-Americans in Montgomery launched the boycott of the city's municipal buses in response to the arrest of Mrs. Rosa Parks for sitting down on a seat that was reserved for whites in the front of a city bus. The incident received unprecedented nationwide publicity, as did the Supreme Court battle that followed. The Court's decision was a victory for African-Americans and declared all of Alabama 's laws that regulated segregation on buses unconstitutional. Following the Court's decision and slightly more than a year after the boycott started, a young African-American minister boarded a bus in Montgomery , sat where he chose and so stepped to the forefront of the African American struggle against racial discrimination. His name was Martin Luther King Jnr.

King Jnr. emerged as the leader of the African-American community in Montgomery during the bus boycott and he became the embodiment of the Civil Rights Movement and its change in resistance tactics from patient litigation to assertive action. His campaign of civil disobedience, aimed at publicizing the plight of African-Americans, stressed the principle of non-violence and included the organization of 'sit-ins' during the 1960 in cafes, restaurants and hotels hitherto only reserved for whites and the 'Freedom Riders' in 1961 on segregated public transport. These actions led to federal legislation eliminating discrimination in public accommodations and transport, as well as voting and education. The dramatic climax of this 'civil rights revolution' came on 28 August 1963, when King Jnr. led a march of more than 200 000 African-Americans and whites to the Lincoln memorial in Washington DC that impressively heightened national public attention to the demands for equal rights. Following the march, the administration of pres John F. Kennedy implemented a sweeping program to further enhance racial equality by appointing African-Americans to high government posts and the last remaining vestiges of discriminatory legislation was eliminated. In 1964, King Jnr. received the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of his decade-long contribution to the Civil Rights Movement and non-violent opposition to racial discrimination. Politically at least, the struggle for equal rights was won, and the focus of the Movement turned to the socio-economic upliftment of African-Americans.

The Resistance Struggle in South Africa

On 3 February 1960 , the British Prime Minister Harold MacMillan delivered the famous "Wind of Change" speech to the South African parliament in Cape Town . In the speech, he reflected on the increasing impact of human rights on both international relations and states' domestic affairs and warned the Nationalist Government that South Africa could not afford to continue to swim against the international tide of change and transformation:

"The wind of change is blowing through this continent [ Africa ] and, whether we like it or not, this growth of national consciousness is a political fact. We must all accept it as a fact, and our national policies must take account of it".

Between 1910 and 1948, successive South African Governments had steadily applied increasingly discriminatory legislation in order to enforce the segregation of races and protect white minority rule. In 1913, the Land Act prohibited blacks from owning or renting land outside of designated reserves (comprising roughly 7% of the country's surface area). Africans were also increasingly subjected to pass laws that restricted their movements and controlled their influx into urban areas. In 1924, the Industrial Conciliation Act sought to protect the white working class from the competition of cheap African labour by reserving certain types of jobs for whites and also introduced a system of differential pay in terms of which whites were paid more than Africans for the same work. While the African franchise in the Cape was entrenched in the 1910 South Africa Act These reserves Principal among these acts were the 1913 Land Act (which prohibited blacks from owning or renting land outside designated reserves that comprised roughly 7% of the country); the 1923 Native Urban Areas Act (which applied influx control over Africans entering urban areas); the 1924 Industrial Conciliation Act (also known as the 'Colour Bar' Act; which reserved certain types of labour for whites); the 1936 Representation of Blacks Act (which removed the direct representation of Cape Africans in the South African parliament and established the Native Representative Council) and the 1946 Asiatic Land Tenure Act (which restricted Indian land ownership to a few exempted areas).

Quotes

Peace

"In Africa , as our contribution to peace, we are resolved to end such evils as oppression, white supremacy and racial discrimination, all of which are incompatible with world peace and security."

"But now the revolutionary strings of our continent are setting the past aside. Our people everywhere, from north to south of the continent are reclaiming their land, their right to participate in government, their dignity as men, their nationhood. Thus in the turmoil of revolution, the basis for peace and brotherhood in Africa being restored by the resurrection of national sovereignty and independence, of equality and the dignity of man."

"The world is now a neighbourhood, although unfortunately, people are not sufficiently neighbourly. We suffer at the present time from an over stress nationalism. Each such ultra-nationalist group seeks domination over others. I would like to see a South Africa that takes a serious interest in establishing peace and friendship in the world and not merely paying lip service to these important needs of man."

"Humanity longs for the time when the great Powers of the world will become great at heart and curb their ambitions, and pave the way for the settling of their differences in a statesman-like manner and so remove the threat of war."

"... no true peace and progress can be secured in any country as long as there are others in that country denied full democratic rights and duties."

Non-violence

"As for myself, with a full sense of responsibility and a clear conviction, I decided to remain in the struggle for extending democratic rights and responsibilities to all sections of the South African community. I have embraced the non-violent Passive Resistance technique in fighting for freedom because I am convinced it is the only non-revolutionary, legitimate and humane way that could be used by people denied, as we are, effective constitutional means to further aspirations."

"We must fight on in all fronts along the path of non-violence and when, at times, the human weakness of despondency assails us, let us gain courage and inspiration, not only in the justice of our cause, but in its universality in all ages. We should be stirred to greater effort by the knowledge that it is our undeserved honour and privilege to be numbered among the followers of the heroes of freedom of all lands and ages: men and women who have so meritoriously championed the cause of freedom."

"Non-violent resistance in any provocative situation is our best instrument. Our strongest weapon is to acquaint our people and the world with the facts of our situation. No doubt we shall be accused of inciting the people and labelled as agitators and communists. We should never be deterred from our path of duty to our people and our country by these accusations. We should rest content in the conviction that we are here performing a divine duty when we struggle for freedom."

"Africa likes to enjoy peace, prosperity and freedom and would like to day itself with those forces of peace and freedom and so, does not like to be made a war zone in any war that warmongers may plunge the world in."

"We can assure the world that it is our intention to keep on the non-violent plane. We would earnestly request the powers that be to make it possible for us to keep our people in this mood."

Justice

"Laws and conditions that tend to debase human personality - a God-given force - be they brought about by the State or other individuals, must be relentlessly opposed in the spirit of defiance shown by St. Peter when he said to the rulers of his day. "Shall we obey God or Man?"

"Let us set our spirit and conscience attune with the spirit of Divine Discontent that is within us and together with freedom-loving people elsewhere serve faithfully the cause of Freedom in the world in general, and in South Africa in particular, and so help our beloved South Africa to March honourably with the rest of the democratic world to the final liberation of all mankind."

"It may well be that South Africa 's social system is a monument to racialism and race oppression, but its people are living testimony to the unconquerable spirit of mankind. Down the years, against, seemingly overwhelming odds, they have sought the goals of fuller life and liberty, striving with incredible determination and fortitude for the right to live as men - free men."

"A regime that flouts world opinion cannot last. Nor will such a regime endure, when many of it's own citizens are resolute and pledged to work for that end even at the cost of limitless sacrifice. For we are steeled by oppression and the daily sight of human values being ground underfoot only makes us cherish even more those values."

Freedom

"The germ of freedom is in every individual, in anyone who is a human being. In fact the history of mankind is the history of man struggling and striving for freedom, indeed the very apex of human achievement is FREEDOM and not slavery."

"Friends, let us make no mistake, the road to freedom is always full of difficulties. Before we reach the summit of freedom, many will have fallen by the wayside as a result of enemy action, and others as through personal despondency may abandon the fight. But I call upon you as the true son of South Africa to be true to Africa , and count no sacrifice too great for her redemption."

'Let us march together to freedom saying: The road to freedom may be long and thorny but because our cause is just, the glorious end - Freedom - is ours".

"Our interest in freedom is not confined to ourselves only. We are interested in the liberation of the oppressed in the whole of Africa and in the world as a whole."

"Those of us who are in the freedom struggle in this country have really only one gospel. We may possibly shade it in different ways, but it is a gospel of democracy and freedom."

Speeches

The following are a few selected links:

Tributes
  • You there, Lutuli, they thought your world was small
    They thought you lived in Groutville
    Now they discover
    It is the world you live in.
  • You there, Lutuli, they thought your name was small
    Lutuli of Groutville
    Now they discover
    Your name is everywhere.
  • You there, Lutuli, they thought that you were chained
    Like a backyard dog
    Now they discover
    They are in prison, but you are free.
  • You there, Lutuli, they took your name of Chief
    You were not worthy
    Now they discover
    You are more Chief than ever.
  • Go well, Lutuli, may your days be long
    Your country cannot spare you
    Win for us also, Lutuli
    The prize of Peace.

Collections in the Archives

Documents, speeches, Awards, and articles relating to Albert John Luthuli