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What Barack Obama’s record breaking Mandela tweet tells us about the world

- Caryn Abrahams

The former US President's record-setting tweet, surpassing 1.6 million retweets and 4.5 million "likes", has captured the imagination of world. But why?

In the tweet Obama quoted Nelson Mandela:

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 . White supremacists in the Virginia town for a 鈥淯nite the Right鈥 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.

One of them, James Fields (20), allegedly a car into anti-fascist demonstrators, killing activist, (32).

Then came the current US President Donald Trump鈥檚 that effectively legitimised the racism as perpetuated by the rightwingers:

We鈥檙e 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.

Why did the Mandela words resonate now?

Obama鈥檚 stroke of genius

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

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鈥檚 not uncommon to use someone else鈥檚 words or sentiment to make a statement on social media. I too have done this on occasion.

In this instance, however, the use of Mandela鈥檚 words was calculated. Strategically speaking, it was a stroke of genius.

Articulating the poignant message as a 鈥渄irect quote鈥 tweet enabled Obama to pass on a discreet message saturated with meaning because of its content and because it was attributed to its originator.

But, as we have seen on Obama鈥檚 timeline, the direct-quote tweet was given added meaning because of who had sent it, and its timing.

The sent out the same quote as a tweet on 29 July. But it enjoyed just over 1,100 鈥渓ikes鈥, 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鈥檚 twitter timeline, is not simply because of its content, as profound as it is.

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 鈥 which he is clearly skilled at doing 鈥 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.

By using Mandela鈥檚 quote as a response to Charlottesville, Obama maintained a sophisticated balancing act, while offering a few poignant messages of his own:

  • America is at risk of legitimising racial hatred in much the same way as South Africa did during apartheid;

  • Far-right conservative politics erodes the natural inclination of the human condition towards compassion; and

  • Trump鈥檚 views represent irresponsible leadership, and are a veritable seedbed for social hostility.

Perhaps that is why the echoed words of Mandela caused such an outpouring of support and resonance among twitterati. It said what progressively-minded individuals wanted to say, but simply couldn鈥檛 find the words.

Moral authority

I think the tweet raises another interesting sociological point about moral authority. In a context in which there is such a deflation of morale 鈥 such as the violence in Charlottesville and the blatantly irresponsible from Trump 鈥 any sound-minded progressive individual might hope, or even pray, for some kind of voice of reason.

Under normal circumstances, and especially in a such as the US, this voice of reason may be found in the Bible. But the right wing rally-goers had traded its life force for a narrative of exclusion that supported their bigotry. Invoking the words of the venerated icon Mandela, then, offered the necessary kind of gravitas or moral weight.

I can鈥檛 help but consider how Mandela鈥檚 legacy continues to offer respite to the world, though sometimes in quite different ways. In one case, it is Obama鈥檚 political wisdom that prompts him to use the words of Mandela to balance out rising social discontent, and to challenge racial hatred.

The ConversationIn another case, just under our noses, the 第一吃瓜网 National Congress (ANC) with its increasingly political leadership, Mandela鈥檚 legacy to balance out rising social discontent about its own moral bankruptcy. Perhaps Mandela too, is, tragically, a man for all seasons.

, Senior lecturer, School of Governance, . This article was originally published on . Read the .

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