10 - Final Thoughts
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 July 2009
Summary
In 1966, Senator Robert Kennedy travelled to the University of Cape Town in South Africa at the invitation of an anti-apartheid student group. He delivered a speech containing this famous passage:
It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.
Senator Kennedy's various South African speeches inspired his audiences because he addressed their subordination. Kennedy even alluded to South Africa one day teaching the world about social progress.
This book has compared one product of the post-apartheid era to which Senator Kennedy alluded, the South African Constitutional Court, with the U.S. Supreme Court. This chapter draws some conclusions regarding the South African cases, predicts what the future holds for the Constitutional Court, and briefly assesses recent U.S. Supreme Court developments.
SOUTH AFRICAN JURISPRUDENCE
The South African Constitutional Court's rulings regarding the death penalty, gay rights, and socioeconomic rights have been transformative.
The Court's gender discrimination and freedom of expression decisions are positive but not as significant. The religion and affirmative action cases have been disappointing.
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- Constitutional Rights in Two WorldsSouth Africa and the United States, pp. 286 - 306Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2009