{"id":100576,"date":"2017-08-27T14:47:39","date_gmt":"2017-08-27T12:47:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/what-barack-obamas-record-breaking-mandela-tweet-tells-us-about-the-world-the-conversation\/"},"modified":"2017-08-27T14:47:39","modified_gmt":"2017-08-27T12:47:39","slug":"what-barack-obamas-record-breaking-mandela-tweet-tells-us-about-the-world-the-conversation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/what-barack-obamas-record-breaking-mandela-tweet-tells-us-about-the-world-the-conversation\/","title":{"rendered":"What Barack Obama’s record breaking Mandela tweet tells us about the world | The Conversation"},"content":{"rendered":"

What Barack Obama’s record breaking Mandela tweet tells us about the world<\/a>: <\/p>\n

Barack Obama on a 2013 visit to South Africa.<\/span> Kim Ludbrook\/EPA<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What is it about former US President Barack Obama\u2019s record-setting tweet \u2013 it has already surpassed 1.6 million retweets and 4.5 million \u201clikes\u201d \u2013 that has captured the imagination of the world? <\/p>\n

In the tweet Obama quoted Nelson Mandela:<\/p>\n

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No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin or his background or his religion \u2026 People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love \u2026 For love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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Judging by the replies and comments, the tweet seems to have offered some respite to the rapid depletion in social morale in the US after the recent Charlottesville violence. White supremacists gathered in the Virginia town for a \u201cUnite the Right\u201d rally on August 12 to protest against plans to remove the statue of the Confederacy general, Robert E Lee. The violent extremists chanted racist and pro-Nazi slogans.<\/p>\n

One of them, James Fields (20), allegedly rammed a car into anti-fascist demonstrators, killing activist, Heather Heyer (32).<\/p>\n

Then came the current US President Donald Trump\u2019s press statement that effectively legitimised the racism as perpetuated by the rightwingers:<\/p>\n

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We\u2019re closely following the terrible events unfolding in Charlottesville, Virginia. We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides, on many sides.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Why did the Mandela words resonate now?<\/p>\n

Obama\u2019s stroke of genius<\/h2>\n

Amid incredulous scenes of flagrant neo-Nazism \u2013 incredulous, that is, in an era of progressive human rights \u2013 and the inevitable and necessary protest against the rally, the words of Nelson Mandela resounded with a gentle wisdom and a kindly warning.<\/p>\n

It was not so much a case of Obama simply not being able to find the correct words to respond to such a loathsome occurrence. After all it\u2019s not uncommon to use someone else\u2019s words or sentiment to make a statement on social media. I too have done this on occasion. <\/p>\n

In this instance, however, the use of Mandela\u2019s words was calculated. Strategically speaking, it was a stroke of genius.<\/p>\n

Articulating the poignant message as a \u201cdirect quote\u201d tweet enabled Obama to pass on a discreet message saturated with meaning because of its content and because it was attributed to its originator. <\/p>\n

But, as we have seen on Obama\u2019s timeline, the direct-quote tweet was given added meaning because of who had sent it, and its timing. <\/p>\n

The Nelson Mandela Foundation sent out the same quote as a tweet on 29 July. But it enjoyed just over 1,100 \u201clikes\u201d, 18 replies and 737 retweets. While this is obviously related to the number of followers, the point is that the overwhelming global resonance with the quote via Obama\u2019s twitter timeline, is not simply because of its content, as profound as it is.<\/p>\n

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In this case, Obama may have chosen these words precisely because they offered some distance from the political space in America. Had he tweeted a strong and powerful message in his own name or using his own words \u2013 which he is clearly skilled at doing \u2013 the message may have been regarded as merely playing the opposition card, or indeed, more likely, the race card. Either of these two imaginary readings would inevitably have been shut down either by political loyalists or increasingly courageous racists. <\/p>\n

By using Mandela\u2019s quote as a response to Charlottesville, Obama maintained a sophisticated balancing act, while offering a few poignant messages of his own:<\/p>\n