Put yourself in the shoes of a colored South African girl or boy, living through the post-apartheid period, and on top of that, being the only black student in a classroom full of white students. You would most likely feel misplaced or alien-like. South Africans have been feeling this way for a number of centuries and still today. Ever since the arrival of Europeans in South Africa during the year of 1487, it lead to the commencement of white dominance over the black community. Over the course of the years, the white race began to take into complete control by implementing segregation policies forever changing Africa which has lead to a number of predicaments for the black community in South Africa still prevalent today. The apartheid era was a time in South Africa’s history when colored Africans faced the biggest struggles, which was put to an end with the heroic actions of Nelson Mandela, but looking at present, is it really at an end?
Ever since the arrival of Europeans in South Africa during the late 1400’s, it has brought a huge amount of despair and hopelessness to the black community forever changing the African culture. Because of Africa’s developing government system, it facilitated the Europeans to get ahold of cheap labor which motivated a number of laws to be implemented based white race dominating the black race (Segregation, Racial, Africa). With the discovery of gold and other mineral it caused the industrialization process rocket of the charts which greatly depended on low paid black labor. Low-payment jobs are one of the main factors that revolves around segregated system in South Africa since the high paying jobs are offered to people of white colored skin, while low paying jobs were reserved for colored skin South Africans.
Several years later, the apartheid era was introduced to South Africa, as it is also known as the “separate development.” The apartheid era was a policy which recognized segregation and racial discrimination which was applied on South Africa after the Afrikaner-led National Party was elected, but it is commonly known as the period of time when white supremacy was the only answer to the fear of African rebellion and rule. (Apartheid) The separation between black and white communities was to ensure and maintain the power of the white population. Like the United States, it was a long process to accept the equality between black and white people, but this was due to the white people being frightened that there could be a chance of the black race overruling the white community since there were more of them. Even though the apartheid period was put to an end about twenty years ago, there are still remnants of the era still heavily affecting South Africa today. In an article written by Robert Jensen, he writes, “Apartheid is dead in South Africa, but a new version of white supremacy lives on (Jesen).” This means that the ending of apartheid rule did not necessarily mean the end to racism, segregation, or discrimination, but a start to a new era. This new era involved the first black South African president, a democratic elective system, and a new start to South African culture.
Segregation in South Africa has been a lingering issue ever since the 14th century and affecting many lives today. This is a serious topic in which not only South Africa has faced, but as well as the United States, but both countries manage to overcome it in an extensive period of time. Writer Greg Myre, still acknowledges the fact that South Africa has progressed since the apartheid era with the growth of prosperous cities and millions of black South Africans educations have flourished (Myre).
Annotated Bibliography:
"In South Africa, Apartheid Is Dead, But White Supremacy Lingers On."Www.counterpunch.org. 08 June 2009. Web. 08 Mar. 2016.
Nesbitt, Francis. "Apartheid." Encyclopedia of Race and Racism. Ed. Patrick Mason. 2nd ed. Vol. 1. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2013. 153-161. Global Issues In Context. Web. 7 Mar. 2016.
"Original Text." Apartheid (1948-1994). Web. 07 Mar. 2016.”
"Why South Africa Is Still Dealing With Segregation and Poverty."
Zukas, Lorna. "Segregation, Racial, Africa." Encyclopedia of Western Colonialism since 1450. Ed. Thomas Benjamin. Vol. 3. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2007. 1001-1002. Global Issues In Context. Web. 7 Mar. 2016.
"20 Years After Apartheid, South Africa Asks, 'How Are We Doing?'" NPR. NPR. Web. 09 Mar. 2016.
In your article, I really liked the topic in general. I think it's very interesting as it talks about the residual affects of the apartheid today. My main take-away is that, although South Africa has come a long way since the apartheid, there are still many things that must be done to achieve complete equality. What made you choose this topic?
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