Apartheid in South Africa began in 1948, but racial segregation had existed for centuries. It was developed by Afrikaner scholars and enforced by the National Party, led by Hendrik Verwoerd. The system categorized people by color and confined black people to “homelands.” Apartheid ended in 1994, but its legacy remains in strained race relations and ongoing violence.
South Africa has had a long history of white domination long before the creation of apartheid. Although both the British and Dutch conquerors were adamant about keeping blacks and whites separate, the systematization of racial discrimination in the form of apartheid only began in 1948.
Apartheid means isolation in Afrikaans, the language of Dutch settlers in Southern Africa. This set of policies that has been dubbed “racism made law” by the United Nations was not the work of one man. It was developed over the years by an intelligentsia of Afrikaner scholars. Apartheid proponents included anthropologists, sociologists, philosophers and clerics such as Piet Cillé and Phil Weber
The concept behind the original apartheid proposal was one of segregation for the sake of each ethnic group. Early apartheid theorists and advocates argued that blacks should be confined to black territories and live in self-governing communities. In this way, they could preserve their African traditions.
In 1948 South African elections were held. When their outcome gave power to the Nationals, the party promptly set about imposing apartheid. Among the more distinguished members of the party who played an important role in the creation of the new regime was Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd.
Verwoerd was a brilliant scholar in the fields of psychology and sociology. From his post in the pro-National Party newspaper Die Transvaler, he helped the National Party campaign. As a reward for his efforts, he was made a senator. He then went on to become Minister of Native Affairs and eventually Prime Minister. Because he was a leading proponent of apartheid and some of the system’s most relevant policies were established during his rule, he has been called the “architect of apartheid.”
Despite its true meaning, apartheid didn’t just mean that blacks and whites were to be kept apart. In a system that resembled the methods of Nazi Germany, people had to be categorized according to color and origin. There were three main categories: white, black and colored. “Colorful” was used to refer to people of mixed race.
Blacks were forced to carry passes at all times and were confined to reservations known as “homelands.” Within this closed system, blacks were not considered South Africans, but citizens of their designated homeland. It was common for him to be denied access to white urban areas.
Following the continuous riots and demonstrations, the government instituted a system of brutal repression, which was condemned by the international community until the definitive disappearance of apartheid in 1994, but racial conflicts in South Africa are far from extinct. Apartheid has left an imprint on people’s minds which is very difficult to erase. For example, whites with features even slightly resembling African physiognomy who travel to South Africa are still, even today, called “coloureds”.
Long after the deaths of some of Apartheid’s proponents, the scars left by the regime in South Africa are still held responsible for the violence that continues to pervade the country and the strained race relations among its people.
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