Apartheid (1948-1994) was a system of laws and policies in South Africa that forcefully separated groups of people based on their race. The word “apart,” in Afrikaans, literally means “separate,” and “apartheid” refers to “separateness.” The apartheid laws heavily favored the country’s white minority, and the government focused its resources on advancing Afrikaner culture. Mandela’s speech is in direct opposition to the apartheid government, which sentenced him to life in prison for his political opposition.

The ANC is the acronym for the African National Congress, founded in 1912 to advocate for the rights of Black South Africans. The party believed in democracy and established itself as the apartheid government’s most successful African opposition in the freedom struggle. The ANC was banned, from 1960 to 1990, by the apartheid government. This meant it was declared as an illegal organization. Involvement in the ANC could get one arrested. Still, party members remained active and many of the leading members operated from outside of the country, in exile. In 1994, the majority of South Africans democratically elected the ANC to represent them as their government, with Nelson Mandela as president. Today, the ANC is still the ruling party in the country.