Apartheid Project
Curtis Knoop Zoie Beadnell
Defining Apartheid
Apartheid means a policy or system of segregation or discrimination on grounds of race. It was a huge program of racial segregation in the south that took place in Africa after World War II.
Laws/Rights
Many of the laws that the Afrikaners passed were meant to separate the Africans and the Afrikaners. A law was passed before the Apartheid ended that made Africans carry around a passport at all times to identify them. Quite a few laws were passed by the whites that limited work rights and freedom of the black community in Africa. Of course, they didn't like these laws, but could do nothing helpful but protest against them until something better came along, which finally happened in 1994. Until Nelson Mandela came to power, many of the laws in Africa were supportive of Apartheid and segregation.
Government/Leaders
The National Party of South Africa, which was made up of the Afrikaners won the general election for power over the people. Whites were in charge for most of the time during the Apartheid, and they tried to segregate the Africans from them as much as they could, even taking away their rights in their positions of power. The Africans often protested against this, and once, in Sharpeville, South Africa things got violent. The police stationed there opened fire on the public after an abnormally large protest, which killed 69 people and wounded 186, most of them shot in the back while running away. Because of this, a state of emergency was declared, and more than 11,000 people were arrested.
Economy (food/jobs)
The Africans were paid much less for their jobs, and had many restrictions on the jobs that they could choose, because the whites were in a position of power over them. The white people were thought of as "better", so they were paid much more and got the best food and other supplies. While the whites lived a prosperous life, the Africans lived through pain and poverty, often starving from lack of money needed to purchase food. Many Africans worked as servants to the white people, swallowing their pride to make a little extra money. They were were often stuck with the undesirable jobs that paid just enough for them to get by, staying in an economic rut for most of the Apartheid.
Social (school/social classes)
The white and black children were separated, and sent to different schools to learn away from each other, because of the enforcing of segregation by the Afrikaners in charge of South Africa. The natives of Africa were getting tired of all the enforcement of rules by the Afrikaners, and started to protest against the government for mistreating them. One of the worst of these protests was the Sharpeville massacre, in which many people died, and even more were arrested. Many of the Africans thought that the whites should be punished for inflicting so much pain on them, while others thought that they had just made a mistake, and that peace could still be made.
South Africa Now
After 1994, the Apartheid was ended, and the people of different races got along relatively peacefully in South Africa from then on. Even though the two races had been enemies for years, they were able to get along, even though there were still many problems to come for the African people. After the Apartheid, the Africans were able to focus on the other troubles that they had, such as the AIDs epidemic. Although the Africans suffered tremendously under the Apartheid, they have still made great strides towards democracy.