Apartheid Reflection

Apartheid Reflection

Apartheid is defined as “a system of institutionalised racial segregation and discrimination in South Africa between 1948 and 1991” (Apartheid, 2017, para. 1) The idea of an apartheid was brought to light in South Africa with the birth of the 1913 Land Act, which forced black Africans to live on reserves. Not only were their homes taken from them it was also made illegal for them to be sharecroppers. The Afrikaner National Party won the election in 1948, their goal being to separate all non-whites from each other. They believed that in doing this it would decrease the African tribe’s political power.

1950 brought on the ban on mixed race marriages as well as sexual relations between people of different races. This meant that children were separated from their parents and married couples could be imprisoned for being together. With children labeled under the race ‘Coloured’ there parents were labelled as ‘Bantu’ or ‘White’.

The Bantu Authorities Act of 1951 established “homelands” which acted as states where each tribe would be assigned to live. It was believed by the government that these homelands could be a way of stripping the Native African people of their political rights because they would now be citizens of the homelands rather than of South Africa (The History of Apartheid in South Africa)

When leaving the homelands africans were required to carry passports to get back into South Africa, “All Blacks were required to carry ’pass books’ containing fingerprints, photo and information on access to non-black areas.” (The History of Apartheid in South Africa, para. 3) The system of carrying ‘pass-books’ was extremely degrading and hurtful to the Native Africans as it made them feel as though they weren't welcome in their own home. As quoted by The History of Apartheid in South Africa (n.d.) they were “aliens in their own country.”

As people protested against the apartheid the government fought back with full force killing everyone from children to the elderly. They used not only bullets but tear gas which left many survivors severely injured. Anywhere that the African people protested the government would open fire on, this included schools and homes. News of these violent attacks forced countries worldwide to put economic sanctions on South Africa, meaning that they were unable to buy and trade with other countries. By 1985 South Africa’s economy had crashed and to this day is still recovering (Apartheid, 2017)

1994 was marked as the end of the apartheid but South Africa is still struggling to recover both financially and in terms of the stigma surrounding race in their