Apartheid

Apartheid

China Brown

Southern New Hampshire University

Apartheid

The historical event which I have selected is Apartheid. Apartheid is an event which is very famous in the history of mankind. The reason behind its popularity is the fact that this event refers to the cruel policy which was developed by the South Africans to govern the overall relations between the two types of populations that reside in the region. The two populations were the Whites who were in a minority and the nonwhites which were a majority in the region. The policy helped in sanctioning the overall racial segregation and the political discrimination against the nonwhites (Hickson & Kriegler, 1991). The effects were also felt in the economic sectors as well. The effects of the apartheid lasted in the area from 1948 till the early 1990s. I feel that the policy of Apartheid was wrong and shouldn't have been implemented as it created several issues for the non-whites and therefore, gave birth to colored based discrimination.

Apartheid was fundamentally defined and came it came into practice right after the general actions which took place in 1948. Before the hate and discrimination were there in the hearts and the minds of the White but it was defined in the form of national policy. Therefore, Apartheid was formally adopted by the government of South Africa by the National Party in 1948. Before this, there were some areas of the country where there was segregation between the whites and the non-whites but as it was not enforced by the law-making agencies it did not have a very huge impact (Gibson, 2003).

The very first law which was based on the apartheid policy was the law that prohibited mix marriages in the country and was known as the Prohibition of mixed marriages Act. It was passed in the year 1949, followed by the Immorality Amendment Act which came in the following year. These Acts made it unlawful for the South African citizens to marry anyone from a different race. The Population Registration Act, 1950 helped in discriminating the population further as it divided all the citizens of South African into four racial groups which were based on their appearance and socioeconomic status. These four groups were the Blacks, the Whites, colored and the Indians. The places where these people were allowed to live were also determined by racial classification and it can be stated that the people no longer had the right to choose where they wanted to live or whom they wanted to be (Hickson & Kriegler, 1991).

The basics of the event suggest that it was planned and executed to give the White minorities living in the area the authority over the majority population which consisted of Black Africans, Asians, and others (all who were non-whites). The culture was based on the concept of white supremacy or baasskap which means the same. The policy encouraged the state or the government to show discrimination against the nonwhites and at the same time use the non-whites for the benefits of the Whites in the regions (Hickson & Kriegler, 1991).

A proof of the fact that the policy was unjustified is that there still is colored based discrimination in South African to date. The White Africans consider the Black Africans and other nonwhites, less than them in almost every aspect of life and the two races do not get along very well. Similarly, the non-whites living in the country are aware of the fact that the Whites don’t like them therefore, there is a huge lack of unity in the region which can be seen in several forms. It can be concluded that the effects of the historical event of Apartheid are devastating and it is one of the most unjustified and biased policies the world history has ever witnessed (Gibson, 2003).

References:

Gibson, J. L. (2003). The Legacy of Apartheid. Comparative Political Studies, 36(7), 772-800. doi:10.1177/0010414003255104

Hickson, J., & Kriegler, S. (1991). Childshock: The effects of apartheid on the mental health of South Africa's children. International Journal for the Advancement of Counselling, 14(2), 141-154. doi:10.1007/bf00117733

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