Apartheid

Eurena Belcher

Ust 302

9:45-10:50

Apartheid

The word apartheid means "separateness", which was the policy of legal

separation followed in South Africa. The apartheid laws classified people

according to three major racial groupsÐ'--white; Bantu, or black Africans; and

Colored, or people of mixed descent. The laws determined where members of each

group could live, what jobs they could hold, and what type of education they

could receive. Laws prohibited most social contact between races, authorized

segregated public facilities, and denied any representation of nonwhites in the

national government. People who didn't agree with apartheid were considered as

communist.

Before apartheid became the official policy, South Africa had a long history of

racial segregation and white supremacy. In 1912, the African National Congress

(ANC) was founded to fight these unfair government policies. In the 1950s, after

apartheid became the official policy, the ANC declared "South Africa belongs to

all who live in it, black and white," and worked to abolish apartheid. After

antiapartheid riots in Sharpeville in March 1960, the government banned all

black African political organizations, including the ANC. Race laws touched

every aspect of social life, including a prohibition of marriage between

non-whites and whites, and the sanctioning of ``white-only'' jobs. All blacks

were required to carry ``pass books'' containing fingerprints, photo and

information on access to non-black areas.

In 1951 the Bantu authorities act established a sort of background for ethnic

reserves known as homelands. They were independent states to which each African

was assigned to by the government. These assignments were based on their record

of origin. All political