Disgrace is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as a “loss of reputation or respect as the result of a dishonourable action”. The word Disgrace has two subtly different meanings- it can either be used as a noun or a verb. A person can be in disgrace (noun) or person can disgrace themselves or others (verb). Either way it implies a dishonourable event occurred that casts a shadow over a person or a group of people. A dictionary definition cannot truly convey what the meaning of ‘disgrace’ is. As with many words in the English language, ‘disgrace’ has a highly elusive nature. This is caused in part by the negative connotations associated with it and, as a result, the subtle nuances that it evokes when used. In the context of the first 50 …show more content…
2. Apartheid The Apartheid in South Africa occurred between 1948 and 1994. The population was racially segregated as a part of the policy of the active government, the National Party (NP). Public services, such as education and health care, were segregated between white and black populations. The services provided to white people were far superior to the services offered to black people. As a result the black majority and other racial minorities were firmly established below the poverty line. Soweto Massacre On June 16, 1976 a student uprising was mobilized when high school students left their classes to march peacefully across Soweto. These students were protesting the fact that they had to learn Afrikaans as well as the general political conditions of the time, in particular the apartheid. The protest was meant to be entirely non-violent and to culminate at Orlando High School where they would all sing a song together. The students never reached their destination. Their peaceful march was met by heavily armed government forces who openly fired upon the crowd. Heavy casualties were sustained and hundreds of children were killed. This event led the country to revolt against the government- an uprising that continued well into the next year. Although the Soweto Massacre received international attention, the Lord Byron Lord Byron was a British poet who was born in 1766 into an aristocratic family.
Black South Africans living in South Africa, had to endure fifty years of oppression and racial discrimination. Apartheid was a policy implemented by the South African government across South Africa. It was used to control the Black South African population since they make up the majority of the population. The government created Apartheid, due to their fear that the Black population will overthrow them. Living as a Black South African meant that they had to live a more oppressive and undesirable life.
In both countries, the schism between Africans and their government worsened. To illustrate: “[The Emancipation Proclamation] ended [slavery] . . . , but blacks . . . had more in common with African-American slaves . . . than with the [Caucasian businessmen]” (Bausum 2012, 19). For instance, Congress passed the discriminatory Jim Crow Laws – in order to establish a hierarchy based on “the plantation mentality” (Bausum 2012, 14). For South Africans, the National Party (the Nats) in 1948, made apartheid the official law. Both forms of segregation continued the cycle of poverty for coloured people and “ensured [that Caucasians had better quality education], hospitals, and other public services” (Rose 2011, 12). For example, African-American garbage men’s insufficient salary “was based on their garbage routes” rather than an hourly wage (Bausum 2012, 14). Similarly, black South African staff received inadequate pay and the law outlawed strikes and the formation of unions.
In both countries, the schism between Africans and their government worsened. Despite the Emancipation Proclamation ending slavery, “blacks . . . had more in common with African-American slaves . . . than with the [Caucasian businessmen,]” due to the Jim Crow Laws – which established a hierarchy based on “the plantation mentality” (Bausum 2012, 14,19). Similarly in South Africa, the National Party made apartheid the official law in 1948. In other words, both forms of segregation: isolated races (ex. through outlawing intermarriage and integration), trapped coloured people in the cycle of poverty and ensured that only coloured people were deprived of quality education, health care, and other government services . In addition, only African-Americans were garbage men who received an insufficient salary that “was based on their garbage routes” rather than an hourly wage (Bausum 2012, 14). Similarly, black South
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
To understand why Byron wrote in this way you must first understand his upbringing and the things he learned growing up. Byron, born on January 22, 1788, in Aberdeen England, was born to the very aristocratic and wealthy Catherine Gordon and highly-ranked naval officer, John
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)
Being called a disgrace can be hurtful, but are you actually one? In the book,
Racism, discrimination and degradation faced by Blacks and other ethnic minorities under the apartheid system was not unlike the segregation and intimidation faced by African-Americans in the Jim Crow south. Jim Crow system of segregation that kept Blacks from fully participating in public and civic activities and relegated African-Americans to substandard conditions at work, school and even in the home. Blacks in South Africa were under the clutches of an overt, national policy of racism and segregation implemented by the country’s highest level of government. Civil and human rights abuses of Blacks in South Africa at the hand of the country’s white minority occurred long before apartheid officially began, but the system’s official start brought strict, sweeping laws such as the rule that all persons in South Africa to be categorized as white, Black, colored and Indian, without exception. Like in the U.S. during Jim Crow, Blacks and whites were not allowed to marry and sexual relations between members of different races was a criminal offense.
In both countries, the schism between Africans and their government worsened. To illustrate: “[The Emancipation Proclamation] ended [slavery] . . . , but blacks . . . had more in common with African-American slaves . . . than with the [Caucasian businessmen]” (Bausum 2012, 19). Blinded by racial prejudice, Congress passed Jim Crow Laws - establishing a hierarchy based on “the plantation mentality” - and in 1948, the National Party (the Nats) made apartheid the official law (Bausum 2012, 14). In fact, both forms of segregation enforced poverty for coloured people and “ensured [that Caucasians had better quality] schools, hospitals, and other public services” (Rose 2011, 12). For example, African-American garbage men’s insufficient salary “was based on their garbage routes” rather than an hourly wage (Bausum 2012, 14). Similarly, black South African workers received inadequate pay and the law outlawed strikes and the formation of unions. In both cases, full-time employees remained
apartheid – system of radical segregation practice in the Republic of South Africa until the 1990s, which involved political, legal, and economic discrimination against non-whites
The racist apartheid system trapped South African communities into poverty, unemployment, and inequality. During this apartheid system, the black community were not considered as citizens and were denied any basic human rights. The system also prohibited any type of interracial relationships and marriage. Segregation has affected the black community heavily due to the fact that it followed them everywhere. For example, schools, hospitals, bathrooms, and other public buildings/services had enforced segregation, so the whites were given better treatment.
The national party achieved power in South Africa in 1948 the government, usually comprised on “white people”, and racially segregated the country by a policy under the Apartheid legislation system. With this new policy in place the black South African people were forced to live segregated from the white people and use separate public facilities. There were many attempts to overthrow the Apartheid regime, it persisted to control for almost 50 years.
George Gordon Byron, Lord Byron, was born on January 22, 1788 in London and passed away on April 19, 1824 due to a fever in Missologi, Greece according to Marchand. He had a rough life due to his father abandoning him and his mother having schizophrenia. He was self-conscious as a child due to his clubfoot and had a nurse who helped care for him and also abused him (Marchand). Byron is known for his great role in the Romantic Movement, and is considered a great inspiration for romantic poetry during his era (Marchand).
The dictionary definition of the word apartheid is “any system or practice that separates people according to race, caste, etc.” However when most people think of apartheid, they think of the injustices carried out by the Republic of South Africa starting in 1948. The enactment of these laws caused racial discrimination to be legalized as well as an encouraged practice. There were many laws with the apartheid such as the prohibition of marriage between a white and non-white and the requiring of blacks to carry around “pass books” which
South Africa really began to suffer when apartheid was written into the law. Apartheid was first introduced in the 1948 election that the Afrikaner National Party won. The plan was to take the already existing segregation and expand it (Wright, 60). Apartheid was a system that segregated South Africa’s population racially and considered non-whites inferior (“History of South Africa in the apartheid era”). Apartheid was designed to make it