South Afric A Country Of Diversity

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.

Apartheid was a government system that South Africa used from the years 1948 to 1994 (“Frederik Willem De Klerk”). The word apartheid means separateness which is exactly what the government wanted

South Africa, the “Rainbow Nation”, is renowned for its rich culture and beautiful landscapes. South Africa’s constitution recognises 11 official languages, which is among the highest number of any country in the world. More than a quarter of South Africa’s population is unemployed and living under the breadline.

According to my research if we study the history of South Africa all we could see is racial discrimination. Africa was all in control of Whites till 1994. South Africa got free from racial discrimination when Nelson Mandela took a step became the first black prime minister of South Africa. Contemporary South Africa is now economically strong and it is completely a racial free state. The contemporary South Africa is now in race with every state in every field. Before 1994 South Africa was completely under control of Apartheid.

The county of South Africa is an economically flourishing country and probably the most advanced country on the continent of Africa. However the entire continent of Africa is probably the most undeveloped part of the world. Why is South Africa so different from the rest of its continent? Karen Politis Virk explains that it is because of South Africa’s developed economy and diverse population (Virk 40). South Africa has three main ethnic groups: African, Afrikaners, and the mixed race. The Afrikaners and mixed races have many roots to Europe and Asia giving the nation even more diversity and a culture melting pot. This set the nation apart from the rest of the African nation in which the majority of the residents are of native African

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.

Race and subsequent racial discrimination has molded South Africa from its inception. Apartheid institutionalized racial discrimination and subjugation in order to further the notion of white superiority. Apartheid legitimized violence based on the perception of racial inferiority. Race, in and of itself, was the social and psychological reality through which repression and violence functioned. South Africans saw the world in “black” and “white” terms and violence was commonly used to maintain this status quo. However, during the Mandela era (1994-1999), a new mindset emerged to describe the social order. This mindset culminated in nationhood, unity, racial harmony and reconciliation.12 Reference to race entered a sensitive and delicate space. Choosing to downplay the role of race rendered the real, often violent, consequences of race invisible.11 This self-imposed cognitive dissonance was seen as a necessity in creating national unity. In the Mandela era, and during the TRC processes, there was little national debate on how race had influenced past human rights violations. In fact, the TRC had a direct and explicit focus on events post-1960s, which dismissed colonization and the historical build up to Apartheid. There is also little recognition that race continues to shape identity and interactions within contemporary South Africa.

Twenty years after the end apartheid in South Africa, there still stands the same Squatter town with tin sheets as roughs and the same living poor living conditions that were established in the early 19 hundrends. These Squatter towns are present throughout South Africa, all known for their different colorful characteristics, and lack of racial diversity. With “63% of black children living in households earning less than 800 rands, compared to only 4% of white children” racial inequality is enormously existent. In “South Africa 58.5% of whites and 51% of Indians enter some form of higher education, compared to only 12% of blacks.” [21 The overall lack of economic and educational opportunities for blacks in South Africa is appalling. In a nation were 80% of the population is black, one can truly see a sobering example of how powerful and lasting systematic and historical racism is, even when there is overwhelming majority in the population; that majority population can still suffer from oppression.

For thousands of years, humans have segregated each other based on their differences. These differences include race, religion, political affiliation, and other various points of view. As of 22 years ago, native South Africans faced segregation. This form of segregation was called apartheid. It all started small European settlements, and then developed into one of South Africa’s biggest dilemmas. Africans fought vigorously to defend their rights. One man in particular made a stand for freedom, and his name was Nelson Mandela. From start to finish, people’s God given rights were ignored, infringed upon, and often taken away.

Throughout history, Racial segregation has been used as a means to power and control, often for a minority, and South Africa was no different in any manner, almost a perfect, textbook case of oppression. Source 1 explains how the Apartheid first began in the 1940’s, developed and used due to economic and political instability. The English and the Dutch controlled South Africa, vying for its fertile lands, people, and its profusion of precious and strategic minerals, leading to Boer War. When South Africa gained its independence from England, there was an internal power struggle for decades until the Afrikaner National Party devised the apartheid, enacting it in 1948 as a means to control the economic and social landscapes that they had lost their grasp on. The Apartheid, however, did not instantly create the

However, while the segregation laws were no longer in effect, racism was still quite prominent in the nation. While the laws changed, many people’s ways of thinking unfortunately did not. Even though people of different races were no longer living apart from each other and using separate public facilities, that did not change people’s views. But although progress was slow, it was still happening. South Africa has come along way since the days of apartheid, and although there is still a long way to go, it is clear that significant change has occurred due to this watershed

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

GBCA – SOUTH AFRICA Communication Contemporary South African communication has been laboriously hewn from several social forces. Irrespective of the struggle, communication has now become the focal point of social convergence. Influenced by political, economic, and cultural components, then diffused through a history of colonization and apartheid, communication in South Africa has evolved slowly; nonetheless it is gaining strength and it is reaching a greater apex (Collier, 2005). Linguistic affiliation. There are eleven languages officially recognized in South Africa. The reasoning behind the official recognition of so many languages was to bring a greater level of equalization to the nation. Until 1994, Afrikaans was the official language, and English was also recognized.

Many of the contemporary issues in South Africa can easily be associated with the apartheid laws which devastated the country. The people of South Africa struggle day by day to reverse “the most cruel, yet well-crafted,” horrific tactic “of social engineering.” The concept behind apartheid emerged in 1948 when the nationalist party took over government, and the all-white government enforced “racial segregation under a system of legislation” . The central issues stem from 50 years of apartheid include poverty, income inequality, land ownership rates and many other long term affects that still plague the brunt of the South African population while the small white minority still enjoy much of the wealth, most of the land and opportunities

Before 1994 South Africa was a country based on Apartheid rules and regulations. The Parliament was the highest legislative body and it interpreted laws as it pleased, mostly in favour of ‘white Christians’. Any other race or religion was treated in an unfair and sometimes inhumane way. These laws were mainly based on Roman-Dutch law and influenced by English law.