"Racism is mans gravest threat to man...the maximum of hatred for a minimum reason." -- Abraham Heschel
The Apartheid. An experience that left thousands of Black South Africans without rights, property, and even lives. Although original in its name, the ideas were not original in itself. The ordeal dates back to 1652 when the early Dutch settlers moved into Black territory on a mission to "change the order of civilization" (Rotberg 18). "Boers" (Rotberg; 18) as the Dutch called themselves, took up "an extreme fundamentalist Calvinist interpretation of religion" (Rotberg 19). This religion entails that one be a "ruler of all" (Rotberg 20). In 1795, English rule came over the Dutch resulting in a conflict between English settlers and Dutch (Afrikaner) settlers. Both groups empowered South Africa and did not share the power equally. In the early 1900s there was a heated battle over the discovery of diamonds which marked a victory for the Dutch (Rotberg 18). However this victory was not won simply by themselves. Black South Africans assisted in the war. From this, the Dutch felt they needed to reform stricter prohibitions for the Blacks to follow; resulting in another reason to separate the Whites from the Non-Whites: quoted by a British Native Administrator, "it was needed to transform warriors (Blacks) into laborers working for wages" (Dugard, Haysom, and Marcus 25). Blacks were considered warriors because of their "battle with the British and Dutch" (Dugard, Haysom, and Marcus 25). The Dutch, who then changed their name to the Afrikaner National Party, did so as a means to separate themselves from the English as well as ensure social and economical dominations towards all Blacks. This name stayed with them until the late 1940s ...
... middle of paper ...
...e society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if the needs be it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die"- Nelson Mandela, freed prisoner after the Apartheid came to an end ( Gordimer, Goldblatt 92).
WORKS CITED
Dugard, John, Nicholas Haysom, and Gilbert Marcus. The Last Years of Apartheid: Civil Liberties in South Africa. United States of America: Ford Foundation, 1992.
Gordimer, Nadine, David Goldblatt. Lifetimes Under Apartheid. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1986.
Pomeroy, William J. Apartheid, Imperialism, and African Freedom. New York: International Publishers, 1986.
Neame, L.E. The History of Apartheid. New York: London House and Maxwell, 1962.
Rotberg, Robert I. Ending Autocracy, Enabling Democracy. Cambridge: World Peace Foundation, 2002.
Levine, Michael L. African Americans and Civil Rights: From 1619 to the Present. Arizona: Oryx Press, 1996.
“Racism is man's gravest threat to man - the maximum of hatred for a minimum of reason,” —Abraham Joshua Heschel. Racism has plagued society since the beginning of time, and as Heschel explained it is one of mankind’s greatest downfalls. As social animals; humans have a natural desire to relate to each other and group off. Collaborating with others has many benefits such as, starting a family or getting through natural disasters but; often times this desire to connect has led to superiority complexes and severe racism. History shows that the failure to embrace differences can lead to horrific wars and unrest. An example of a time when a group of common people used racism to connect is America’s Ku Klux Klan. Although the Ku Klux Klan has become less of an issue over the years, it is still existent and has the potential to expand.
parallels to current events. District 9 is a movie with such a message, and its message
an ideal society, in which everything is supposed to be perfect, with all life’s problems solved. It is
Massey, Douglas A. and Nancy A. Denton. American Apartheid. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1993.
During Imperialistic times South Africa was a region of great resources that was greatly disputed over (Ellis). Europe’s main goal during these times was to compete against each other and played a “game” of which country can imperialize more African countries than the other. Imperialism was a curse to South Africa, because many wars, laws, and deaths were not necessary and would not have happened if South Africa were not imperialized.
The Apartheid took place mostly within the country of South Africa along with a few minor independent city states such as Peoria and other countries in the vicinity of South Africa. It also took place internationally.
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.
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.
Along with the power of owning vast amounts of land, white explorers brought an air of supremacy with them. They encountered indigenous people and felt superior over them. Segregation and unequal treatment of the black population was widespread throughout the continent. In South Africa, racism took the form of apartheid and lasted until 1994. Upon colonizing the African landscape, settlers from France, Britain and Portugal imposed ‘white rule’ over the natives. Africans could never meet the standards that the white men established. Sometimes, they were tolerated if they adopted ‘white’ ways, such as marrying a white woman, but they were never fully accepted. In some of the cultures, the British did not approve of interracial marriage nor did they fully accept the Africans. In 1760, laws were passed that required traveling African slaves to carry a ‘passbook’ everywhere they went.
Coster, P., & Woolf, A. (Eds.).(2011). World book: South Africa’s Anti-Apartheid Movement, (pp. 56-57). Arcturus Publishers: Chicago.
the ban on the ANC, the PAC and the SACP, he announced the release of
on him or her. Unless it was stamped on their pass, they were not allowed to
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”).
Apartheid was considered a necessary arrangement in South Africa, as the Afrikaner National Party gained a strong majority political control of the country after the 1940’s and the economic dependence on their fertile natural resources, such as diamond and gold mines and other metals such as platinum. This required intense labor and the white dominant control over the repressed black majority allowed for an