SOUTH AFRICAN APARTHEID
South Africa, the richest of the continent’s countries, was also one with the most complex and confined racial relations. From the 17th century, settlers came to service the maritime traffic around the Cape. By the 19th century, the Boers had migrated inland from Cape Town and began setting up farms, ranches and vineyards. The expansion of Zulu power forced the British rulers and Dutch settler into Zulu wars that, culminated in 1879, broke the last black empire in the region. By the end of the 19th century, the discovery of gold and diamonds led to the expansion of the colony’s holdings and an influx of immigrants (including Chinese and Indian). The social division among whites, Africans and “coloreds” by the early 20th
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Moreover, the white government felt itself increasingly besieged as new black majority countries came into being. It pointed with some justification to a number of states as Marxist and claimed that it was fighting the free world’s battle against the free world’s battle against the expansion of the Soviet Bloc. It withdrew from the British Commonwealth in 1961 and a number of black organizations (such as the African National Congress) campaigned for the disintegration of apartheid. The brutality of white armed forces and the constant harassment of dissenters added to the oppressive …show more content…
In 1974 the General Assembly of the UN forbade South to attend its sessions because of Apartheid. The USSR and its allies supported the ‘front-line’ states (against South Africa) with weapons, and Cuban troops remained in Angola. From Pretoria, the view northwards looked more menacing, and the internal situation was dwindling in security: more young South Africansjoined the opposition to Apartheid. In 1976 176 people were shot in demonstrations against the government in Soweto. By the early 1980s, there was little doubt that white South Africa was facing a crisis. The country’s trade was hit by sanctions and had no foreign support for their views on racial segregation. All the inhabitants were suffering as the country became a police state because of fear of militant black resistance. More non-white groups started to merge around the leadership of the banned ANC with Nelson Mandela. Even some young whites protested against the system they inherited and the wars in Nambia and Angola were unpopular as
When the Age of Imperialism began in 1875, it effected Africa in many ways. Nowhere was the competition for colonies more intense than in Africa. Europeans went after North and South Africa splitting up the continent. Egypt and Sudan were taken over by Britain to obtain the Suez Canal. Imperialism helped to develop Africa’s economy and turned it into a continent of colonies.
How the Apartheid fell was a chain link of events. The early stages of the demise began around the early 1900s when new laws were placed out and riots broke out in the streets. When the Apartheid outlawed and banned the African National Congress (ANC) as well as sent many of its leaders to prison by convicting them of treason, including Nelson Mandela, the black community of South Africa were outraged. After the ban was placed out, the remaining anti-Apartheid fled to other surrounding independent African countries including Nambia, Zimbabwe, and Botswana. There, they continued to set up camps and fight the Apartheid. Back in South Africa, protesting increased during the middle years of the apartheid after Nelson Mandela is imprisoned again after being suspected to heave being involved in a bombing. This time he is imprisoned for life.
The blacks were overpowered through various regulations for over forty years. During the apartheid, blacks were to be relocated to “homelands.” The white government allocated that all black citizens be assigned to “tribes,” and were forced to return to “homelands” within the boundaries given by the government. There were soon eleven countries and ten black tribal National states. Blacks were now prohibited from leaving the “homelands” without work passes. White minority lived in luxury while the 80% of the population, black, lived on 17% of the poorest land. The National Party was able to eradicate human rights of the black South Africans while maintaining absolute control of the government. Most international communities ignored the apartheid in South Africa due to the Cold War concerns in the United States and Europe. This enabled the South African government to operate with little contact with international parties. There were uprisings like the Sharpeville killings of 1960 and Soweto of 1976 but were rare occurrences. South Africa, not depending on national ties to other countries, grew into a weakening economy. Soon the United Nations had a cultural boycott prohibiting international artists from performing in South Africa. Despite the boycott, artists such as Frank Sinatra and Elton John ignored this boycott and performed in Sun City (a white resort in
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.
The county of South Africa is an economically flourishing country and probably the most advanced country on the continent of Africa. However the entire continent of Africa is probably the most undeveloped part of the world. Why is South Africa so different from the rest of its continent? Karen Politis Virk explains that it is because of South Africa’s developed economy and diverse population (Virk 40). South Africa has three main ethnic groups: African, Afrikaners, and the mixed race. The Afrikaners and mixed races have many roots to Europe and Asia giving the nation even more diversity and a culture melting pot. This set the nation apart from the rest of the African nation in which the majority of the residents are of native African descent (Virk 38). There has been no mixing of cultures or ideas in the nations as there has been in South Africa. South Africa has less problems with diseases and socio-economic problems. The reason for South Africa’s success could be because they have had such a tumultuous and interesting history compared to the rest of the continent The majority of the African continent is underdeveloped for one simple reason: diversity (Abdullkadir, 634). The rest of Africa has all had some sort of outside influence, but the influence did not stay with the people. The Boers developed differently than the rest of Africa, and the breaking point is the Boer War.
A system of institutionalized racial segregation in South Africa called apartheid was in effect from 1948 till 1991 under an all-white political organization known as the National Party. The
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.
South Africa was positively affected in the way that before the Dutch and British, South Africa had been split up into many different tribes, who though they were free were not united. Through the centuries of hardship South Africa came out of apartheid very strong and the ANC has maintained a popularity of 60% popularity for all the elections since 1994. Economically South Africa has blossomed and is the 2nd largest economy in all of Africa and has managed to triple its GDP even though it has been less than 30 years since it has left apartheid, established democracy and freed itself from many international sanctions. South Africa’s economy still has many issues though for it is still an underdeveloped country which suffers from lack of education, employment, and crime. Socially South Africa remains strong as it is united under one goal of making its nation once again great, and it has maintained its heritage and culture. In fact, a quick look at a South African site will show many articles and memorials, of days in the past remembering the struggle for freedom. Politically, South Africa has remained strong and united with the ANC still carrying the vast majority of the votes and uses a governmental system quite similar to ours with a separation of powers and a thriving democratic system. Luckily, political diversity has also started to appear with many other groups appearing making the most out of South Africa’s democracy and all of which pledge freedom and are led by native
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.
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."
Human history has been marked with long and painful struggles that fought for human rights and freedoms. Discrimination and racial oppression has always been one of the most controversial struggles for mankind. For South Africa, it was a country where black people were oppressed by the white minority. The colonization of South Africa began in the 18th century by the Dutch empire after Dutch trading companies started using its cape as a center for trading between Asia and Europe (sahistory.org.za). Soon after, the British took over the country and declared it part of the British Empire (sahistory.org.za). Decades after, Afrikaners, who descended from the original Dutch settlers that occupied South Africa, started working on creating a state that separates between black people and whites. Their plans were to create a separation between black people and whites that involved excluding blacks from all types of social, economic, and political activities within the country. All South African natives knew the bad conditions that their people were forced to live in but only a few of them took the responsibility of sacrificing their lives and freedom for the rights of their people. One South African citizen, Nelson Mandela, can be considered the main hero for the South African freedom revolution and the hero for millions of people fighting for their freedoms worldwide. Mandela’s long walk for freedom defined South African history and entered world history as one of the most influential fights for freedom and human rights in the world.
The word apartheid comes in two forms, one being the system of racial segregation in South Africa, and the other form is the form that only those who were affected by apartheid can relate to, the deeper, truer, more horrifying, saddening and realistic form. The apartheid era truly began when white South Africans went to the polls to vote. Although the United Party and National Party were extremely close, the National party won. Since they won, they gained more seats and slowly began to eliminate the black’s involvement with the political system. With the National Party in power, they made black South African life miserable which continues to exist in South Africa’s society today. To decrease the political power of black South Africans even more, they were divided along tribal lines. During apartheid in South Africa, The National Party, along with the help of the white social classes damaged the social and political life of black South Africans which continue to leave a devastating effect on South Africa today.
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”).
This unrest continued as many young people left the country out of thorough frustration with the government’s unyielding harassment against the black community through the police. Those who fled did not complete their education as they opted instead to undergo military training and join military camps as to prepare themselves for the possibility of orchestrating acts of sabotage against the apartheid government. This pattern continued in the on-going fight against apartheid which finally collapsed towards the end of the 1980s.
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...