At the end of Mandela’s twelve-day, eight-city U.S. tour — during which he declared himself a Yankees fan and danced the toyi-toyi, a traditional South African victory dance — this story reflected on what the icon means to Americans: “For the many blacks who have begun to call themselves African Americans, he is a flesh-and-blood exemplar of what an African can be…He arrived in the U.S. more as a symbol of courage and hope than as a politician with well-known positions.”