The issue of inequality, once seen as taboo, should be tackled head on because it underlies some of the world’s most pressing problems, according to three global "Elders" visiting Hawaii from three continents.
"Standing up against the colossus of apartheid, you could sometimes feel really puny," said Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to overcome racial segregation in South Africa.
"But then knowing that there were all these people around the world in the anti-apartheid movement … that gave an incredible push and support to us."
Tutu said he was a shy "township urchin" who was thrust into a leadership role as archbishop of Cape Town when other South African leaders were jailed or in exile. He said that even today he has to pinch himself when he realizes he is working with global statesmen and women.
Tutu and two fellow Elders — former Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland and civil rights activist Hina Jilani of Pakistan — are in Honolulu at the invitation of Pillars of Peace Hawai‘i, an initiative of the Hawai‘i Community Foundation. Their visit is supported by the Omidyar Ohana Fund.
The trio spoke Friday at a press conference and later at a forum on ethical leadership at the Hawai‘i Convention Center, which was attended by 200 people including Gov. Neil Abercrombie and business leaders. They will meet with high school and college students Saturday and give a public talk Sunday that is sold out.
The late Nelson Mandela founded the group called "The Elders" in 2007 in hopes that respected, independent leaders could use their wisdom and experience to advocate for the shared interests of humanity, give voice to the voiceless and promote peace in the so-called global village.
Tutu and Brundtland were founding members and Jilani is the newest recruit to the group, which now has 11 members, including former U.S. President Jimmy Carter.
Brundtland, a medical doctor, was at age 41 the youngest person and first woman appointed prime minister of Norway. She went on to head the World Health Organization, leading efforts to eradicate polio and highlighting links between poverty and disease.
Now 75, Brundtland said more people are beginning to understand the importance of tackling inequality within nations, not just between them.
"All of my life when I’ve spoken about inequality and certainly when I’ve done that for instance in the U.S. or even in the U.N. context, it has been obvious to me that people are responding to it as if it’s something not so nice to bring up," she said.
"Now you see the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and the World Economic Forum in the last few years starting to address it straight on, realizing that what happens in societies where there is inequality, it is not just that it’s an affront to human rights and dignity, but they also now start addressing the fact that it holds back societies.
"It holds back the prosperity of nations," she added. "So inequality should be fought directly. You can redistribute, you can invest in the whole of your population, you can see that everyone has the same rights to education, you can overcome discrimination against women and girls."
Tutu lamented the fact that even with the end of apartheid, his country remains deeply divided along economic lines. "The gap between rich and poor is the worst in the world," he said. "I think we need a revolution in people’s attitudes."
He also said when he visits Israel and Gaza and goes through checkpoints, his heart aches at the parallels between Israeli-Palestinian divisions and segregated South Africa.
"Have I been caught in a time warp?" he wondered aloud. "This is exactly what we experienced. And my anguish is what the Israelis are doing to themselves.
"What we discovered in South Africa and especially through the truth and reconciliation process, when you carry out unjust laws, dehumanizing laws, inexorably, whether you like it or not, the perpetrator or the enforcer of those laws is dehumanized."
The leaders praised Hawaii’s multiethnic tapestry and tolerance. Tutu has visited Hawaii several times, but Brundtland and Jilani are new to the islands. They visited Bishop Museum and Iolani Palace Friday morning.
"We really want to promote humaneness, and there is a great deal of it here, where you see people of so many different ethnic backgrounds cohering in the kind of way it seems to be happening," Tutu said. "Is it for real? It is for real? It’s a fantastic thing. A fantastic lesson.
"We should be calling people," he added with a laugh. "We should call the Ukrainians and the Russians, ‘Just come and see how people from different backgrounds are able to cohere as a community.’"
Jilani, who created the first legal aid center in Pakistan and helped found the country’s Human Rights Commission, has had to deal with death threats and abuse but continues to work on behalf of the most vulnerable in society, including women, minorities and political prisoners.
Asked how she keeps going, she said, "I would rather stop and rest. But the injustice doesn’t stop."
She offered words of caution for Hawaii, noting that it should not take its relative harmony for granted.
"This is a very inspiring place where people live together and not just tolerate but accommodate diversity," she said.
"I would like to pray for you that nobody ever comes up to bring up the differences to divide you," she said. "There are differences, of course there are. In many parts of the world we have seen people who have coexisted for centuries and then there have been people who have drawn on the differences to kind of divide the people."
