Darin Colarusso
Ms. Higgins
World Geography Level 1
18 December 2014
South Africa South Africa is the future of Africa. They are undisputedly the economic, academic, and scientific leaders of that continent. They are the country that takes that first giant leap forward to a better life in Africa. South Africa is not like most of the other countries of Africa for many reasons. They are ahead of the game pretty much at any aspect. Even though they have major problems, they still are undoubtedly the line leaders of a broken continent. You may or may not know where exactly South Africa lies, but you would probably make the assumption it is in the southern portion of Africa. Countries that border South Africa are Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe,
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South Africa’s culture as a whole has a lot to do with family. The families may be different in skin color, but the value is all the same.
“The basic unit of South African society is the family, which includes the nuclear family and the extended family or tribe. In traditional African society, the tribe is the most important community as it is the equivalent of a nation. The tribe provides both emotional and financial security in much the same way the nuclear family does to white or coloured South Africans. The coloured and more traditional Afrikaans cultures consider their extended family to be almost as important as their nuclear family, while the English-speaking white community places more emphasis on the nuclear family. People in cities live a fast life while outside not as fast. Rural black communities still rooted to traditions. Non rural have mixed the ties with traditional and modern ways. People from Cape Town are very proud of their city, and often appear to have a superior attitude about their city versus the rest of the country. Family ties, long-term friendships and social standing are all important to Capetonians.” ( Kwissential ) As said before the country of South Africa is a very diverse country. There are many races and religions practiced there. There is a total of at least 5 different races in South Africa. Those races include african, white, colored, indian/asian, and other. In total, 51,770,560
The unemployment rate is around 29%, thus making the crime rate out of control. There is a hijacking approximately every two minutes. There are speed limits, but no one obeys them. This may be the reason car accidents in South Africa are way higher than in the United States. All of the cars in South Africa have a manual transmission (stick shift); there are no automatics.
In tribal Africa, the most important aspect of life and survival was the family. Unlike the
Wealth is often accumulated through inheritance; thus the origins of this widening divide may be traced back many generations. The Civil Rights movement dismantled American apartheid (de jure segregation--but certainly not de facto segregation as a tour through any of America's chocolate inner cities and vanilla suburbs will reveal), qualitatively transforming the landscape of civil liberties, access and opportunities for African Americans. Yet the dismantling of the social and political aspects of American apartheid has not led to African American community empowerment or development, just as the dismantling of the social and political aspects of Zimbabwean and South African apartheid has not led to national reconstruction in those societies, because in all three cases, the economic resources (including the land and the mineral wealth--all ill-gotten gains) remained concentrated in the hands of whites.
The concept of family is one of many universal priorities amongst all Africans in all regions. Family is something that African families genuinely value and is considered the foundation for their standing in society. No matter how old you are, you are not considered an adult until you have had children. African parents do not feel complete until they become grandparents. And even if you are married you are not considered to have a family until you have children. African families have very strong foundations because they cherish their families, and are all very close knit. It is considered to be very common and normal to live in a household with both of your grandparents and sometimes even aunts and uncles.
Good evening, from this week reading I have learned that race is social construction. According to social conventions no one born "black" or "white" but people label each other as black and white. The most interesting thing I found in this weekly reading was racial democracy has been widely spread in Brazil than the United States of America. However, in my opinion, color of skin still affect the life chances in both Countries. For instance, in both Countries lighter skinned African descent have more advantage than darker skinned. In addition, as it mentioned in the book, In South Africa, people of African descent hold a majority of the population. So, why were white people still racially dominating in South Africa even after Apartheid
These origins have these families tested family bonds throughout African American history, changing the family makeup by causing these families to become more Americanized and less Africanized following slavery abolishment. Family reunions and events are highly cherished to help maintain the African American culture. Elderly of African American families are celebrated, as they are passing on the African American legacy in this country. The elders provided great perception and common sense into the family and cultural history, also giving good guidance to the younger member into their
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
Africa is one of the most under-looked and misunderstood areas within our world. Unfortunately, this issue stems from a history of oppression and disruptive influences from outside countries. Also, it does not help that the practices of recording history in the past were not the most ethical and sensitive to the people of Africa. With that came the opportunity for stereotyping and not really seeking to understand the complex dynamic of the continent. Africa is vast in size with great diversity within. The ways of living and functioning may be mysterious to industrial civilizations, but they have much to offer and teach industrial societies. Thus, it is very important to approach and understand Africa without generalizing stereotypes and with adequate historical framework.
The black family is centered around the African ethos, a common guiding principle that filled African peoples lives. The African ethos, broken down into two categories, is the survival of the tribe and the oneness of being. “The knowledge of one’s tribal or family genealogy not only reflected and showed the importance of the interconnectedness of all elements of the family (tribe), it also was thought to impart the sense of sacred obligation to extend and continue one’s genealogical line.” In other words, existence is dependent not only on those alive, but those dead as well. Therefore in practice, the structure of traditional African families is based on union. African-based family systems can be thought of as a “Continual Flexibility in Circularity”. It is based on the continuity and union of people. African culture must be the basis for understanding black families. “African roots of black culture is the retention of an African attitude, an attitude based on a belief system which understood everything in the universe to be endowed with the Supreme Force.” In
The superimposing factor that gives South Africa such an advantage over other prospective African business environments is that it possesses of a very powerful and sophisticated vantage-point geographically. South Africa is strategically located for manufacturing and exportation into several regions globally and can be an unmitigated platform for MNC’s who may be interested in a venture within this region. The important advantages include regional competitiveness, combined with reduced operational costs and a significantly prominent market access (Safrica.info, 2011).
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
South African heritage and culture is immensely diverse, and consists of many different groups of people who each have their own traditions and beliefs. Having such a diversity of people and cultures is what makes South Africa so unique. In the true sense of the phrase, we are a rainbow nation.
I have always thought that Nelson Mandela has been one of the most important people in history. I find it very fascinating that one man could end the Apartheid and that is why I want to find out more about this. South Africa is a country with a past of enforced racism and separation of its multi-racial community. The White Europeans invaded South Africa and started a political system known as 'Apartheid' (meaning 'apartness'). This system severely restricted the rights and lifestyle of the non-White inhabitants of the country forcing them to live separately from the White Europeans. I have chosen to investigate how the Apartheid affected people’s lives, and also how and why the Apartheid system rose and fell in South Africa.
In the North Eastern part is mostly populated with the farmers (called Boer) republican and the South Western parts is where the British colonies lived. During the Apartheid there were “homelands.” These were provinces made for the black South Africans and they were forced to live there. After the Apartheid ended in 1994, South Africa was left with eleven official national languages (Businesstech, 2016).
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.