The Apartheid Of South Africa Essay

Apartheid originated as colonization came to an end in South Africa, in the hope of entirely segregating the nation. Under Apartheid, the rights of the majority black inhabitants were curtailed and the white minority rule was strengthened and put into action. Enforced through legislation by the National Party from 1948 to 1994, 3.5 million non-white South Africans were removed from their homes and forced into segregated neighborhoods, in one of the largest mass removals in modern history (Evans). The purpose of Apartheid was not only the separation of the races, but the separation of groups. White domination wanted to maintain power and did so through the enforcement of racist laws involving unequal social order (Apartheid). Apartheid forced South Africans into

Define the term “apartheid”, briefly discuss its historical context and the social/political rules and effects of this system in South Africa?

Apartheid is a policy or system of segregation or discrimination on grounds of race (google) , it started in 1948 and lasted until 1991. Apartheid essentially separated people by race in South Africa. During apartheid you couldn’t marry anyone from another race, also it made it harder for blacks to learn and made living conditions horrible for blacks. Apartheid was a system that began so that the government can keep the power within white people. While apartheid was happening there were three people arguing that apartheid was wrong, Nelson Mandela, Steve Biko, and Desmond Tutu. They expressed their ideas by writing about it. In their writing all three of them used rhetorical techniques to persuade their readers that apartheid was wrong. Nelson Mandela tried to convince his audience by relating to their emotions, Desmond Tutu tried to convince his audience by saying real life stories and Steve Biko persuaded his audience with his use of black consciousness.

The term "apartheid" was one of the most politically charged words in the second half of the 20th century, and still remains notorious today. Apartheid translated from Afrikaans means "separateness" or "apartness". However when the National Party came to power in South Africa in 1948, it took on a much more sinister meaning and today is associated with racial and ethnic discrimination. The roots of apartheid stem deep into South African history. It started way back during European settlement, and was enforced and maintained right up until the end of the 20th Century. It will forever leave a mark on South Africa and indeed the world; a dark period in human history from which we have and will continue to learn.

Racism, discrimination and degradation faced by Blacks and other ethnic minorities under the apartheid system was not unlike the segregation and intimidation faced by African-Americans in the Jim Crow south. Jim Crow system of segregation that kept Blacks from fully participating in public and civic activities and relegated African-Americans to substandard conditions at work, school and even in the home. Blacks in South Africa were under the clutches of an overt, national policy of racism and segregation implemented by the country’s highest level of government. Civil and human rights abuses of Blacks in South Africa at the hand of the country’s white minority occurred long before apartheid officially began, but the system’s official start brought strict, sweeping laws such as the rule that all persons in South Africa to be categorized as white, Black, colored and Indian, without exception. Like in the U.S. during Jim Crow, Blacks and whites were not allowed to marry and sexual relations between members of different races was a criminal offense.

The Apartheid in South Africa occurred between 1948 and 1994. The population was racially segregated as a part of the policy of the active government, the National Party (NP). Public services, such as education and health care, were segregated between white and black populations. The services provided to white people were far superior to the services offered to black people. As a result the black majority and other racial minorities were firmly established below the poverty line.

The colonization of South Africa by the Dutch and English in the seventeenth century created a power struggle resulting in war. In the Nineteen Forty’s, The Afrikaner National Party became strong with white dominion and racial discrimination. Therefore, in 1948, the National Party of South Africa laid down a group of laws that began to organize and separate the races. This action was called the “Apartheid”. When the apartheid came into effect, one hundred and forty-eight laws were created.

In 1948, apartheid was introduced to South Africa. Apartheid means apartness and is the political policy of racial segregation. Each racial group was segregated from other races within South Africa. These groups consisted of whites, blacks and coloreds (Asians and Indians). The minority white population had the rule over the whole country. Apartheid did not only detach whites from non-whites, but it also set apart the Blacks from the Coloreds. When apartheid ended in 1994 a legacy was left behind. Crime and violence became replacements for the road to wealth. Segregation never completely disappeared and black children/teens were also not receiving enough education. Families became split due to apartheid and the loss of parents

Apartheid, a set of laws separating races in South Africa, ended in 1994 after almost 50 years of existing. The laws segregated the powerful whites, “Coloreds”, Indians, and blacks. Though whites were the minority, they owned most land, power, and money and ran the government. The story “Out Of Bounds” by Beverley Naidoo explains what life was like for non-whites in South Africa in the year 2000, six years after apartheid was abolished. An Indian boy named Rohan becomes friends with a black squatter boy named Solani, even though Rohan is higher up on the social scale. Although anti-apartheid laws passed, nothing got better for non-whites in South Africa like Solani and his family. Bias, education, and medical care did not improve for these people.

The national party achieved power in South Africa in 1948 the government, usually comprised on “white people”, and racially segregated the country by a policy under the Apartheid legislation system. With this new policy in place the black South African people were forced to live segregated from the white people and use separate public facilities. There were many attempts to overthrow the Apartheid regime, it persisted to control for almost 50 years.

The Role of Apartheid in South Africa Soweto Riots in South Africa. This explains how Apartheid was responsible for starting the Rioting and how even after they tried to stop the Riots they were unsuccessful. The Soweto riots of 1976 were the most brutal and violent riots that had taken place against the South African apartheid administration. It was also amazing in how far and how fast it spread.

During the 18th Century, Dutch settlers came to live in South Africa. Their descendants called the Boers identified themselves as Africans and fought against the British who tried to colonize South Africa in the 19th and 20th centuries. After living there for so long, they created a stable economic system and government, in which white Africans were to top 1% and the black Africans, who made up the majority of the population, were much poorer. In 1948, the National Party instated something called Apartheid. Apartheid was a system of racial segregation, in which black Africans’ rights were controlled by the Boers. In

The government of South Africa played a huge role in apartheid. During apartheid the government of South Africa worked to take away the citizenship of the Blacks with the laws (“History of South Africa in the apartheid era”). “Social rights, political rights, educational opportunities, and economic status were all determined by the group a person belonged to” (History of South Africa in the apartheid era). Black people were denied by the government the option of appealing courts against forced removals (“History of South Africa in the apartheid era”). Since the government had established laws prohibiting social contact between the races separate schools and public places were set up for the different races (“History of South Africa in the apartheid era”). The government even tried to segregate churches in 1957 but failed (Pascoe, 80)

Apartheid was a system which segregated and oppressed the non-whites. White people where superior than any other race. People were treated according to their racial group. This affected black communities, they lived under harsh conditions and in fear. Even though black South Africans were segregated by this system and lived in their own communities, on their own, as In Sindisiwe Magona’s Mother to Mother. Black South Africans still experienced lawless violence, forced removals, discrimination and government brutality in their communities.

South Africans had been living under the system of apartheid since 1948 where citizens were divided by race and kept separate through certain system of laws which governed all aspects of daily life. Even though black people were in majority they were denied the right to vote in National elections. The educational system was designed not to educate young blacks into professionals but to prepare them to serve white upper class. Apartheid went further to divide the schools into racial groups therefore the white schools were so advantaged within resources compared to the black schools within the town of Soweto. Government also insisted that the Afrikaans language be used as the medium in all local schools which created enormous distress amongst black students. Many divisions between black and white took place in society. The black people found themselves infuriated by the fact that they were slaves in their own country of birth.