Nelson Mandela and Apartheid

Apartheid was a system that made it legal to be racist to Africans from 1948 to 1993. various races were separated into different regions, and discrimination against people of color was not only acceptable, but legally entrenched, with whites having priority housing, jobs, education, and political power. Although South Africa was heavily criticized for the system, it was not until 1991 that the legal system of apartheid began to be broken down, and in 1993 was thrown out altogether with the election of Nelson Mandela, the first black democratically elected President of South Africa. The term is also used more generally around the world to refer to systemic racism which is tolerated, rather than confronted.
The reason that he was a hero wan because in 1960, the African National Congress was banned, and Mandela was one of the founding members of Umkhonto we Sizwe, a violent civil rights organization. His membership was shortlived, however; in 1962, after traveling out of the country to speak about the situation in South Africa and receive military training, Mandela was imprisoned for life, and not released until 1990. The African National Congress was reformed in 1991, as apartheid began to be dismantled, and Mandela was elected President of the organization, going on to take office as President of South Africa in 1994, serving through 1999. In 1993, he won the Nobel Peace Prize apartheid in South Africa. in recognition for his efforts to end.