Michael’s not a liberal. He’s a staunch conservative Christian. Ironically, President Reagan’s children by his first wife Jane Wyman turned out more conservative than his children by Nancy.
Reagan and other conservatives(Alan Keyes, William F. Buckley) and/or Republicans(then living former President Richard M. Nixon) in the 1980s opposed sanctions against South Africa largely because they thought they would cause more harm than good and did not want its economy destroyed(see how “well” things turned out in Rhodesia/Zimbabwe?) For all its faults, South Africa was the richest nation in Africa at the time and was an ally of ours against the Soviets and the spread of communism. SA also maintained a strong alliance with Israel for many years. For good or for ill, that’s simply the way it was at the time.
> “For all its faults, South Africa was the richest nation in Africa at the time and was an ally of ours against the Soviets and the spread of communism. SA also maintained a strong alliance with Israel for many years.”
Mandela was ANC and ANC was communist. Reagan was 100% not-give-an-inch anti-communist. Reagan’s response was completely predictable.
Historically Whites had been in S. Africa longer than they had been in America. Attracted by the growing wealth of S. Africa, migrating blacks from other parts of Africa caused black on black violence. The response of whites was natural: separate states. But although these are facts any person espousing such facts is labeled a racist. The truth is a casualty in this.