Last July, I wrote a post about how Nelson Mandela used a rugby match to help heal some of the racial divide in the newly democratic South Africa after the collapse of apartheid. This was the basis of the movie, "Invictus." It just added to all the many other things which I admire about Nelson. But, lately I have contradicted my own conviction by writing on a number of FB walls about how I did not want the Netherlands to win the World Cup in South Africa because of their brutal colonial policies there and the establishment of the apartheid policies by descendants of the original Dutch settlers. Shame on me for not seeing this as another opportunity where sport can be a source of healing instead of a political divide. Here is how South Africans themselves are reacting to the Dutch team:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/11/sports/soccer/11soccer.html?_r=2&hp
Sunday, July 11, 2010
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