Apartheid in South Africa

When looking at the racial system of apartheid in South Africa, the question of music must be discussed. The central debate among musicologists and ethnomusicologists is whether the music from black south Africans during this time was a result of the resistance movement against apartheid. The other side of the argument is that the music of this time and place catalyzed the movement itself and without an outlet like music the resistance would not have occurred. I believe that the music is a representation of what people experience and gives voice to how people feel already. Music is a product of society and shows the heart and direction of a group of people. In this essay, I will examine what the background of apartheid and the significant

To understand how South Africa changed, one must know the history of Apartheid and the effects it had on the country. Apartheid was a form segregation enforced by law in South Africa. The system was in effect from 1948 to 1993. During this time the majority black and other non-white population was unfairly discriminated against.

During the period of Apartheid in South Africa between 1948 and 1994 the reactions of the South African citizens towards the legal separation of races varied depending on race, ideals and time period. After gold and diamonds were fud inSouthAfrica both the dutch and British wanted the land to themselves, leading to the Boer War from which the Dutch farmers emerged victorious. Following the Boer War and the creation of the Union of South Africa in 1910, the Dutch Boers gained control over the majority of the land in the previously British Cape Colony along with the settlements they had already built, the Transvaal and the Orange Free State. Blacks in South Africa made up about eighty percent of the population but only lived on ten percent of

Many of the issues that led to the eventual establishment of segregation stemmed from the 1913 Land Act, “marked the beginning of territorial segregation by forcing black Africans to live in reserves and making it illegal for them to work as sharecroppers.”(History) For nearly 35 years, the power of the segregation grew cumulating once the Afrikaner National Party won the elections in 1948.

The South African Apartheid, instituted in 1948 by the country’s Afrikaner National Party, was legalized segregation on the basis of race, and is a system comparable to the segregation of African Americans in the United States. Non-whites - including blacks, Indians, and people of color in general- were prohibited from engaging in any activities specific to whites and prohibited from engaging in interracial marriages, receiving higher education, and obtaining certain jobs. The National Party’s classification of “race” was loosely based on physical appearance and lineage. White individuals were superficially defined as being “obviously white'' on the basis of their “habits, education and speech as well as deportment and demeanor”; an

Apartheid originated as colonization came to an end in South Africa, in the hope of entirely segregating the nation. Under Apartheid, the rights of the majority black inhabitants were curtailed and the white minority rule was strengthened and put into action. Enforced through legislation by the National Party from 1948 to 1994, 3.5 million non-white South Africans were removed from their homes and forced into segregated neighborhoods, in one of the largest mass removals in modern history (Evans). The purpose of Apartheid was not only the separation of the races, but the separation of groups. White domination wanted to maintain power and did so through the enforcement of racist laws involving unequal social order (Apartheid). Apartheid forced South Africans into

After the National Party gained power in South Africa, it's all white government immediately began enforcing existing policies of racial segregation under a system of legislation that it called apartheid. Under apartheid, nonwhite South Africans would be forced to live in separate areas from whites and use separate public facilities, and contact between the two groups would be limited. Despite strong and consistent opposition to apartheid within and outside of South Africa, its laws remained in effect for the better part of 50 years. The government of President F.W. de Klerk began to repeal most of the legislation that provided the basis for

African Americans, although liberated from slavery, experienced extreme hardship in the late 19th century. The racist attitudes of the South and the North held them back from a level playing field. Beginning with presidential reconstruction, an example of racism in the South was the enactment of the “Black Codes,” or laws that were made to replace slavery and avoid offering the rights of the 13th Amendment. Some of the laws the “Black Codes” made were the denial of voting rights, rights to seek political office, rights to own firearms, and even in some states the rights to work any skilled job which might compete with whites. Even when Republicans and “Radical Reconstruction” took root, racism eventually won out, and Blacks were denied rights by the effective use of intimidation and laws that attacked their lack of education and monetary holdings. Although progressive Northerners were able to set up the legal framework for equality, the racist beliefs of the majority of America, including Northerners, thwarted the efforts needed to fulfill the attainment of equality for Blacks. “New Immigrants” were also victims of racism, they were treated differently than the old immigrants because they looked different, had different customs, and weren 't from western Europe but instead eastern and southern Europe. Racism regarding their background justified America 's policy of “Laissez-Faire Economics,” which supported letting things be with people and industry. Even though the “New

African Americans endured in these days of slavery. For the white man to mistreat them as if they were animals, is unforgiving. But we worship an awesome God and as long as the whites have repented they can be forgiven. I never thought that I would come to learn pain and disgrace of a human being (thinking they’re superior) of the other simply because of their skin color until I saw the documentary of Slave after Slave (12 years a slave documentary).

“Art is not a mirror held up to reality, but a hammer with which to shape it” (Bertold Brecht in Askew 2003: 633). Despite evolution across the globe and the continued development of societies and cultures, one entity has remained present throughout – music. Though manifested in various forms, music has and continues to play an integral role in a multitude of settings, ranging from religious ceremonies to theater to pop culture and beyond. With universal influence, music possesses the ability to unite a nation behind a single cause yet simultaneously subjugate a people through musical propaganda and censorship. For instance, due to a lack of literacy and economic means in countries such as South Africa (plagued by apartheid sanctions), oral communication through music increases the accessibility of critical ideas. Nonetheless, though musical artists have the capacity to assert politically subversive statements through song, vehement government censorship and even propaganda reflect music’s immense influence. Thus, a vessel through which sound is transformed to expression, music has tremendous political ramifications. Exploring the transformation of South-African music from “a mirror” of the apartheid struggles to a “hammer with which to shape”

Apartheid really began in 1652 when the British colonized South Africa; Slavery and Forced Labor Model were the main focus in South Africa which had come earlier from the Dutch (Colonial Expansion in South Africa). The colonization which brought whites to South Africa was the building block to segregation even though slavery had ended. Apartheid was a repressive policy from 1948 to 1994 by the National Party to make the whites population dominate the region (Apartheid 1948-1994). Consequently, this lead to the passing of various laws rooted in racism.

During many years, South Africa had its own system of racial segregation called apartheid, where white South Africans were separated from black South Africans because they wanted control over them. Unfortuanely, this type of segregation become law, and it took a while to remove it. The first person to take action about the apartheid was Nelson Mandela, an unique activism.

During the late 19th and early 20th centuries lynching and racial segregation were terrible problems. Mob violence killed black men, women and children indiscriminately, often for crimes they had no part in or that were not even committed. Ida B. Wells-Barnett was born a slave, to James and Elizabeth Wells during the Civil War. She attended Rust College, which was partly founded by her father in Mississippi. After Wells’ parents died to yellow fever she attained a teaching position at a local school by lying about her age. After some time teaching she moved to Memphis with two of her sisters, where she acquired another teaching position and continued her schooling at Fisk University. While her professional life was moderately successful, her personal life was dismal, however, “it is the very qualities that problematize her personal relationships… that will impel her to undertake… a courageous crusade against lynching” (DeCosta-Willis). Being a freed black woman in the south, Wells had firsthand knowledge of the segregation and racial tension of the time. This knowledge and her experiences gave her insights about the South that were crucial in her successful crusade against lynching and segregation.

Apartheid was kept in place through various means, mainly the use of legislation and technology. The main way that the government implement apartheid was through legislation. There were countless laws and bills passed, which over time stripped black Africans' of their rights, all the while favoring the white elite of South Africa. Race laws affected every social aspect of life in apartheid South Africa. The early policies that were made when the National Party first came into power set the base for the later policies to take effect and branch off. These policies embodied what the apartheid regime was all about, notably two of the earliest policies made, being the Population Registration Act and the Group Areas Act. Both were made in 1950, with the Population Registration Act requiring al South Africans to be racially classified into either white, black or colored, and the Group Areas Act which geographically separated the racial groups.

The population of South Africa were segregated into categouries of Coloured, Black, White and Indian. Black South African lives were affected in many different ways and it still is today. Apartheid meant great hardship, it meant that Black people were unable to live a reasonable life. All natural civil rights were taken away from them. Public beaches, drive-in cinema parking spaces, graveyards, parks and public toilets are just a few things that were racially segregated. You can say that the church was on of few places races could mix without breaking the law. (Wikipedia, 2013)