Negotiations to End Apartheid

2293 Words5 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Apartheid in South Africa -- Historical Context

Ethnic races in South Africa, have always been highly disproportionate with Africans being the overwhelming majority and the whites the minority. The ratio of races has not changed much over the years. Today, South Africa (which is twice the size of Texas) is home to some 50-million people; 79.5% African, 11.5% Coloured and Indian/Asian and 9% are white ("South Africa's population," 2012.) Not unlike many European countries, South Africa has a history dating back to the 1600’s that is rooted in crimes against humanity. However, South Africa was one of the few countries that created formal laws to endorse full-blown racism. The term “apartheid” directly translated from its Afrikaans origin means “separateness,” and absolute separation of rights, based on race, is what the laws of apartheid embodied.

Through a brief recap of South African historical events, it is evident that native Africans have been treated as less than humane for centuries. The laws that governed slaves (known as Tulbagh Slave Code), dates back to 1753, and includes such laws as: curfews that required slaves to carry passes; slaves were forbidden to make any noise at night, including singing or whistling; slaves could not converse on the streets of Cape Town; and should they revolt in any manner perceived as violent, they were put to death (Mountain, 2005). Although its title changed, the practices of slavery continued in South Africa until 1994. Documented negotiations to end slavery can be seen as early as the 1893 when Mohandas (Mohatma) Ghandi began his crusade against racism known as “Satyagraha.” Although considered “war without violence”, Ghandi’s 1908 campaign stirred the Indian nation to protest en-mass by burning their passes. These acti...

... middle of paper ...

..., A. (2005). An unsung heritage: Perspectives on slavery. Claremont, South Africa: New Africa Books.

Reynolds, A. (2005). Reserved Seats in National Legislatures: A Research Note.

Legislative Studies Quarterly, 30(2), 301-310.

South Africa. (2012). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/555568/South- Africa/260110/Resistance-to-apartheid

South africa's new era; transcript of mandela's speech at cape town city hall. (1990,

February 12). The New York Times. Retrieved from

http://www.nytimes.com/1990/02/12/world/south-africa-s-new-era-transcript-

mandela-s-speech-cape-town-city-hall-africa-it.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm

South African Government, Brand South Africa. (2012). South africa's population.

Retrieved from Big Media Publishers website:

http://www.southafrica.info/about/people/population.htm

Show More
Related

  • A Savage Legacy Summary

    1108 Words  | 3 Pages

    In this program, it centers on a pattern of segregation and genocide evident in King Leopold’s Belgian Congo rampages, the terrorism of Jim Crow, South Africa apartheid rule, and less recognizable examples that persist in today’s global community. Slavery caused Blacks to suffer, and allowed

    Read More

  • The Connection between Slavery, Growth of Capitalism, and Colonization

    1143 Words  | 3 Pages

    South African History Online, (2005) “History of slavery and early colonisation”, 31 January [online] available at http://www.sahistory.org.za/south-africa-1652-1806/history-slavery-and-early-colonisation-sa (Accessed 07 March 2012).

    Read More

  • Aspects of Spartan Culture

    1595 Words  | 4 Pages

    Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 1995. Print. The. Eltis, David, Stanley L. Engerman, K. R. Bradley, Paul Cartledge, and Seymour Drescher. The Cambridge World History of Slavery. Cambridge:

    Read More

  • Apartheid In South Africa

    1362 Words  | 3 Pages

    For nearly forty-six years whites ruled South Africa with licit supremacy under Apartheid laws. With roots in its history, the segregation of races reigned from its colonization by the Dutch to the late 1900's when it was weakened by social unrest and financial burden, and finally abolished by Nelson Mandela. The impact of apartheid stood after apartheid's abolition, as non-whites still had unresolved feelings towards those who supported apartheid, but with Mandela's election and the renouncement of apartheid laws, the country could move forward toward creating a "rainbow nation."

    Read More

  • Desegregation, Busing, and Schools

    2536 Words  | 6 Pages

    Massey, Douglas A. and Nancy A. Denton. American Apartheid. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1993.

    Read More

  • The Abolition Of Slavery Act

    704 Words  | 2 Pages

    Slavery was a barbaric practise but as forbidding as it was, it is a testimony of the resilience of the spirit of the slaves which is why more than three hundred years later, we still honour their contributions to Cape Town

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of Nelson Mandela's Speech

    500 Words  | 1 Pages

    In 1990, South Africa became a totalitarian state. Apartheid is still in full effect. There is extensive racial violence in the streets. The country is economically suffering from sanctions from many other countries in protest of Apartheid.

    Read More

  • John Locke's Belief That People Are Born with Rights

    1159 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...f South African language and culture, acknowledgement of the racial oppression in South Africa, past and present, that it was wrong and positive action is required to make it right, and finally that all South Africans are legitimate and enjoy full moral equality (“About – DA”). In order for all this to be possible, the state must ensure it does not compromise the freedom of the individual (“About – DA”).

    Read More

  • Salva Kiir's Speech 'Former Nelson Mandelas'

    1212 Words  | 3 Pages

    University of Pennsylvania-African studies center. Inaugural speech, Pretoria (Mandela)- 5/10/94 in Nelson Mandela’s inaugural speech-Pretoria ,May 10 from ancdip@WN.APC.ORG

    Read More

  • The Establishment of Apartheid

    857 Words  | 2 Pages

    Apartheid was a system of separation of the races both politically and socially in South Africa in the second half of the twentieth century. This system was said to be one of the last examples of institutionalized racism, and has been almost universally criticized. These Apartheid rules and restrictions were put in place by the National Party which had power over South Africa during this time period. The purpose of Apartheid legislation was to bring the Afrikaner ethnic group to a higher power in South Africa, and accomplished just that. The Afrikaner group was made up of descendants from Dutch colonists who settled in South Africa in order to make a refreshment station, a sort of rest stop, for the Dutch East India Company. The longer people stayed in Africa, the more they started to associate with it as their home. With the enslavement of many Africans, it is easy to see how these Afrikaners would associate themselves as above them and would feel entitled to power over them. This entitlement it how Apartheid rules were born.

    Read More

  • Nelson Mandela's Racist Report

    766 Words  | 2 Pages

    Source A gives a view on the South African governments control over its people and racial discrimination. It is a biased view and makes the South African government seem cruel and racist. It states that the governments "politics are determined by the colour a persons skin". As this is a statement it gives the impression that it is a fact and by giving this impression it also communicates the idea that the South African government IS racist, rather than the South African government COULD be racist. This comes as no real surprise as the advert has been paid for by the ANC (African National Congress), who are a very anti - South African government organization.

    Read More

  • The Impact of the Transatlantic Slave Trade on Ghana: A Violent Legacy

    2407 Words  | 5 Pages

    This class was filled with riveting topics that all had positive and negative impacts on Africa. As in most of the world, slavery, or involuntary human servitude, was practiced across Africa from prehistoric times to the modern era (Wright, 2000). The transatlantic slave trade was beneficial for the Elite Africans that sold the slaves to the Western Europeans because their economy predominantly depended on it. However, this trade left a mark on Africans that no one will ever be able to erase. For many Africans, just remembering that their ancestors were once slaves to another human, is something humiliating and shameful.

    Read More

  • The End of Apartheid in South Africa

    375 Words  | 1 Pages

    the ban on the ANC, the PAC and the SACP, he announced the release of

    Read More

  • South African Apartheid

    1513 Words  | 4 Pages

    South Africa really began to suffer when apartheid was written into the law. Apartheid was first introduced in the 1948 election that the Afrikaner National Party won. The plan was to take the already existing segregation and expand it (Wright, 60). Apartheid was a system that segregated South Africa’s population racially and considered non-whites inferior (“History of South Africa in the apartheid era”). Apartheid was designed to make it legal for Europeans to dominate economics and politics (“History of South Africa in the apartheid era”).

    Read More

  • The South African Educational System

    1900 Words  | 4 Pages

    The apartheid was a very traumatic time for blacks in South Africa. Apartheid is the act of literally separating the races, whites and non-whites, and in 1948 the apartheid was now legal, and government enforced. The South African police began forcing relocations for black South Africans into tribal lines, which decreased their political influence and created white supremacy. After relocating the black South Africans, this gave whites around eighty percent of the land within South Africa. Jonathan Jansen, and Nick Taylor state “The population is roughly 78 percent black, 10 percent white, 9 percent colored, and l...

    Read More

More about Negotiations to End Apartheid

Open Document