South African Apartheid
Student’ Name
Institutional Affiliation
South African Apartheid
Historical inquiry is essential as it offers continuity across history courses. South Africa celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2014. Apartheid was a governmental structure that instituted white supremacist practices against non-white South African citizens. Since South Africa took independence in 1948, the white government soon started imposing existing racial segregation policies. South Africans from outside of white people will have to live separately and access public services under apartheid. During and after apartheid, historical teaching, mainly South African history, has survived many challenges. During the time of apartheid, South African history has been, to some degree, to the target of political violence. It has been a springboard to explain the racial division which had formerly consumed South Africa.
Racial inequality and white supremacy had long before apartheid started to be central features of the regime in South Africa. Three years after South Africa became independent, the infamous 191 Land Act marked the start of territorial apartheid to compel Black Africans to remain in reservations to unlawful work as owners (Tyali, 2020). History helps in understanding the role of the South African apartheid. For instance, In the 1950s, resilient groups erupted of Africans participating in guerrilla combat. But in 1995, during the Cold War, the dictatorship collapsed. The masses of black workers and students took part in the government’s mass protests during the resistance. The political alignment shifted, and the strain of the international community shifted the perception of power.
By 1950, the regime had abolished relationships between whites and other races and strictly forbid sex between black and white South Africans. The Population Registration Act of 1950, which laid down all South Africans by color, including Black Africans, mixed races, and White, established a fundamental basis for apartheid. Asian was added as the fourth category. The South African Union has allowed social customs and legislation to regulate multiracial issues and racial access to economic, social, and political status (Tyali, 2020). Many white South Africans accepted the trend that persisted regardless of their variations.
Nevertheless, it became clear by 1948 that the social system had occasionally been fragmented regarding non-Whites’ rights and opportunities, whether legislated or not. In large numbers, Black migrant workers were drawn by World War II rapid economic growth to leading manufacturing centers wherein the war, shortage of white labor was paid. However, South Africa’s government refused to consider this rising pace of black urbanization and could not accommodate the inflow of housing or social services with a concurrent extension.
The creation and value of historical inquiry are essential, especially in understanding South African Apartheid’s history. History matters to society because the community seeks to recognize people’s hardships during the revolution (Tyali, 2020). South African apartheid persecuted indigenous Africans globally and was unable to beat Europeans by physical warfare and protests. It is recalled that through mediation and other strategies, the African National Congress was responsible for ending apartheid.
The police opened fire with tear gas and ballots in 1976 as thousands of black children in Soweto, a black community on the outskirts of Johannesburg, protested the Afrikaans language standards of black African students. Together with a national economic crisis, the subsequent demonstrations and government repressions brought South Africa to greater international prominence. They broke all expectations that apartheid presented the nation with stability and prosperity. To end the war, the international community also exercised a significant influence and urged the colonizer to stop the country’s activities. Foreign reactions notably sparked the ANC’s emphasis on transmitting the fighting in their country through music and cultural forms such as poetry.
Reference
Tyali, S. M. (2020). Re-reading the Propaganda and Counter-Propaganda History of South Africa: On the African National Congress’ (ANC) Anti-Apartheid Radio Freedom. Critical Arts, 1-15.