I had planned to write a somewhat-lengthy post about the death of Ted Kennedy and his role in the anti-apartheid debate in the United States, including his 1985 trip to South Africa, but Texas in Africa beat me to the punch with a post pretty close to what I’d have written.
I will only add this: South Africa in the 1980s might well mark the most sustained American engagement with an African issue. It is easy to forget just how regularly South Africa appeared on the nightly news (kids, ask your parents) and how many column issues the tumult occupied, especially once the Vaal Triangle uprising in the last third of 1984 set off arguably the most intense sustained period of anti-apartheid activity. And Ted Kennedy was among the voices of conscience who translated those words into concrete action. Kennedy was not alone, nor was he even the most important driving force behind the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act of 1985. But it was one of hundreds of issues on which Kennedy took leadership in his long career. He truly was a giant in American political life.
Hamba kahle, Senator Kennedy.
