The world’s media is currently preparing to bring us the news that Nelson Mandela has died. Obituaries have been long written, as Mandela has been in ill health for some time.

Those obituaries will undoubtedly acknowledge him as the man who almost single handedly ended Apartheid, a man who despite being held captive for 27 years, always remained dignified and courageous. never answered racism with racism.

 The inevitability of death has been faced it seems with same grace, courage and dignity. South Africa has been holding a vigil for their first ever black president for weeks, thinking his death was imminent, yet incredibly he is still hanging on with the determination he lived his life by.

Many world leaders have already paid tributes to the man, some of whom previously described as a terrorist.. He was to be fair, the co-founder of a militant group in 1961 which led to a bombing campaign against the government, ultimately leading to him being jailed for life for attempting to over throw the government and sabotage.

Retrospectively, however, it is hard to imagine the hardship and oppression, which he and his fellow black South Africans endured. It is not difficult to understand the anger that led him down that path. One could argue that in today’s world he would not have needed to do what he did. He is famously quoted as saying during his trial, at which he faced the death penalty ““I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”

After being jailed he never faltered in his fight for equality. Indeed his beliefs were so robust it is said he turned down conditional offers of freedom several times, before finally being released in February 1990.

Four years later he was inaugurated as South Africa’s first democratically elected President. He stepped down after one term, aged 81. He was and will continue to be after his passing, an inspirational figure. 

Reading about his early political activity and the accusations of terrorism reminded me of the fight against racism in our country today.

The EDL have been marching through major cities, organizing mass demonstrations which have led to accusations of them being racist, violent bullies. The very kind of people Mandela might have considered the enemy.

The leader of the English Defence League, Tommy Robinson strenuously denies these allegations against him despite previous convictions for violent behavior. His “members” were pictured wearing balaclavas and acting in a very menacing and threatening way following the atrocious murder of soldier Lee Rigby in London. Robinson also claims that pictures and even videos of members making offensive gestures have been doctored.  He said recently in an interview with BBC journalist Andrew Neil that the EDL had no membership yet their official website bosts that it has 35,908 members.

The website also carries a mission statement that does stress that is a human rights organization set up in response to the actions of a very small minority of Muslim extremists. It also acknowledges that many Muslims are the victims and that not all Muslims are bad. They appear to be trying very hard to be taken seriously by the media while attacking people in cities up and down the country both verbally and physically. They recently tried to march through Sheffield twice, on both occasions being massively outnumbered and out shouted. The message from the people of Sheffield is the same message as the rest the country. The EDL are not wanted, not welcome and will not win support through intimidation.

Mr Robunson was arrested today while attempting a “walk of honour”, before being released on bail. While being bungled into the police vehicle he said “You couldn't make this up. The whole world is watching. All we want to do is complete our sponsored walk. Is this freedom in 2013?

The worry for me is that Mr Robinson and his disciples will become martyrs and win support from freedom of speech and human rights champions. If we are not careful when expelling him from the debate we may actually give his cause credibility.

The EDL says it is not racist yet almost every line of its mission statement is anti-Muslim.

They claim to want freedom of speech while publically criticizing the Quran.

The EDL are hypocrites, hooligans and racists. Hopefully, they will in the future be shown as that and condemned. History will say Nelson Mandela was everything that Tommy Robinson is not.