'No Different Than Slavery: Kennedy's Anti-Apartheid Stance

NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug. 27, 2009— -- While much has been made of Sen. Ted Kennedy's involvement in the Northern Ireland peace process, there is another country in which he is known for playing a pivotal role in helping to bring about peace and justice – South Africa.

In 1985 Kennedy visited the country on the invitation of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, an outspoken anti-apartheid activist. There, the United States senator saw first hand the discriminatory practices of the white South African government.

He stayed in a black township and held an illegal protest outside of Pollsmor Prison where Nelson Mandela was being held. Warned by the South African police not to take part in the demonstration, Kennedy walked up to the gates of the prison and handed officials a letter demanding the release of Mandela.

His visit was condemned by both the white South African government and the Reagan administration who at that time believed in a policy of "constructive engagement" with South Africa.

Kennedy's visit "helped to begin to undermine white South African confidence," Dr. Daniel Conway, a lecturer at Loughborough University in Britain who specializes in the white anti-apartheid movement, told ABC News.

"Here was this U.S. senator coming to South Africa saying we need sanctions and we need apartheid to end now. It made it more difficult for the South African government to say what we're doing is absolutely fine... and that our allies in the United States are totally behind us," Conway says.

For all the attention his historic visit to South Africa received, it was Kennedy's actions when he returned home that many apartheid experts believe was a catalyst to the beginning of the end of the oppressive regime.

Kennedy championed the 1985 Anti-Apartheid Act, a bill that proposed the most comprehensive sanctions against the South African government of any Western government at the time. The bill banned imports, exports, employment, and loans to be given to the South African government from the United States government or U.S. companies. It declared that "it shall be U.S. policy to impose economic sanctions against South Africa if, within 12 months but not later than January 1, 1987, significant progress has not been made toward ending apartheid."