by Alex Lloyd Gross
Slavery is wrong. It is stupid. many nations condoned slavery, including America, which has held black people and Chinese people as forced laborers. in fact, the practice still exists in some area of the United states, but it is called indentured servitude. In South Africa, they called it Apartheid. One man championed against it. His name was Desmond Tutu. In January 1986 he came to Philadelphia and spoke at the University of Pennsylvania and then got an honorary degree from Temple University.
His appearance at Penn was over capacity. You can listen to his remarks here. The Bishop;s visit was part of a12 city tour of major American cities , to put pressure on South Africa to end Apartheid. A few months later, US Rep William Grey, congress passed the massive Anti- Apartheid act., In 1986 President Reagan did not sign it, and in 1986 congress overrode the veto. Apartheid ended in the 1990’s.
In 2003 he again returned to Penn to give the commencement address to th2 247th graduating class. Bishop Desmond Tutu died Sunday, December 26, 2021 in South Africa. He was 90 years young. His legacy will live forever.