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Apartheid – Racist Political and Social System | Fundamentals of Sociology

Apartheid

Apartheid is a social system in which races are completely separated. In South Africa, apartheid (Afrikaans: “apartness”) was the name given to the government’s policies of segregation based on race, which built upon the previous history of racial division. As a result of the rule of white minorities in South Africa, apartheid was a racist political and social system. Non-whites were discriminated against based on their skin color and facial features. During the twentieth century, this existed between 1948 and the early 1990s.

Afrikaans means “distantiation” when it refers to apartheid. For centuries, Southern Africa had been segregated based on race. A new apartheid law was enacted in 1948 after the National Party won the elections. As a result of the new laws, segregation was more strictly enforced. From South African territory, a little country was to be created for the African majority to gain independence.

During this period, the people of South Africa lived separately according to their races. Laws were in place to enforce segregation. The apartheid system in South Africa was abolished in 1994, when a new constitution was ratified which abolished the previous system of segregation. Frederik Willem de Klerk was the last South African president to hold office during the apartheid era, handling negotiations between Nelson Mandela and the government.

In April 1994, after successful negotiations, Nelson Mandela was elected to South Africa’s presidency, becoming the first black person to hold the office.He was 75 years old.In recognition of their efforts, the pair received the Nobel Peace Prize. Other countries with similar segregational systems may use the term apartheid today.

Apartheid aimed to divide South Africa into small independent nations. The black ones were referred to as Bantustans. Other countries did not exchange ambassadors with South Africa because they claimed to be independent countries. This project was not a priority for the National Party government. Moreover, they wanted to keep the majority of South Africa’s land for whites, especially the richest areas, like the gold mines of Johannesburg. Their families had to move far away or face imprisonment if they worked in these mines for little money.

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