South Africans living in Georgia are sharing the world's grief as they remember the life of Nelson Mandela. Mandela wasn't only a hero to South Africa's black residents. White South Africans praise Mandela for reconciling the country after years of bloody apartheid. One woman says the whites in South Africa initially feared for their lives when the balance of power shifted, but soon realized Mandela's goal was to unite the country, not further divide it.

“Because of the years of oppression that was enacted on the black population, white people were scared.”

68 year-old Barbara Jacobs moved from Johannesburg to Sandy Springs three years ago. As a young woman in the 1970’s, she worked to help black South Africans get legal documents they were required to carry during apartheid. Jacobs says whites like herself were afraid the country would implode when apartheid ended in 1994.

“Because of the years of oppression that were enacted on the black population, white people were scared,” said Jacobs. “It was a miracle that the transition to democratic country was peaceful.”

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