Http www sahistory org za article history apartheid south africa

"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world."

- Nelson Mandela

Learning From Apartheid

Perspectives In History

Events in history can take on many interpretations and be viewed through different historical lenses including social, economic, and political.

These lenses give historians various perspectives to interpret an event.

Historians should identify any assumptions they may have to avoid adding bias into their perspective.

A Land Apart

European colonization in South Africa began later than other areas of Africa due to the ocean currents forcing smaller, weaker ships away from the coast (Walker, 1989).

South Africa was originally colonized by the Dutch during the mid-17th century as a post between India/Indonesia and West Africa. Labour concerns led to mass influx of slaves until the slave trade was outlawed in the early 19th century (Thompson, 2001).

This dynamic became the basis for racial prejudice in South Africa.

Afrikaner Pride

Afrikaans is a dialect developed and adopted by early European settlers in South Africa that would eventually become one of two official languages during apartheid. Afrikaners were mostly descendants of German, Dutch and French settlers and considered South Africa their homeland ("Afrikaner", 2018)

Conflict with British colonists' overtime led to the forming of the National Party, a regime that would slowly leech the rights of any non-white citizens to the point of being totally shut out of government decision-making (“National Party”, 2017).

Social Lens

The implementation of Apartheid caused racial tension between White Afrikaners and the Blacks, Asians, Indians, and British that occupied South Africa. This tension helped fuel the National Party's agenda and allowed laws to be passed that limited voting rights, land ownership, and fundamental human rights of non-whites ("A History of Apartheid", 2019).

Political Lens

Because of the slave society that existed before apartheid, whites were already prejudice of Natives and slaves alike.This led to harsh punishements and sentencing of non-whites, compounded by the fraternal nature of choosing judges and magistrates (Bois, 2006).

The introduction of computers by American company IBM led to easier population registration, birthing the infamous "passbook system" (Chokshi, 1995).

Economic Lens

Apartheid in South Africa came at a time when international attitudes toward racial segregation were becoming negative, initially resulting in backlash and being a topic of concern for the UN for many years (Davenport & Saunders, 2002).

Protests from Britain to the United States, as well as other places across the world, helped bring awareness to the injustices being commited in South Africa.

Although the international attention helped, it was ultimately the people of South Africa that helped bring about change in the country ("South Africa's Foreign Relations", 2017).

Historical Narrative

Beginning of Apartheid:

The end of WWII and the horrors of the Holocaust change international opinions on racial segregation.

End of Apartheid:

Divestment campaigns pop up internationally. This coupled with UN sanctions create more pressure internationally ("South Africa's Foreign Policy", 2017).

History's Value

Although the US and other foreign entities helped empower South Africa to end apartheid, it seems almost hypocritical given the current state of race affairs and lack of education or implementation of strategy to help.

History is invaluable, it must be studied with an open mind free of an agenda to portray a specific narrative.

Does History Repeat?

History not only repeats itself, but it stutters and stumbles over itself. Humanity tends to ignore inconvenient truths for easier to digest versions of events and people. History that could be learned from is being ignored and without knowledge of the past the future remains uncertain, instead of mapped out like it already is.

If the current state of affairs in the US and the world regarding race, religion, and other social issues is any evidence then yes history is repeating itself as we speak. The same injustices that plagued South African Blacks, Indians, Asians are still being fought today.

Should We Know History?

Knowing one’s history should not only be an obligation, but a desire for every citizen. Unfortunately, the uneducated are more susceptible to the lies and propaganda of crooked government officials. With knowledge comes understanding, and with understanding comes peace.

References

A history of Apartheid in South Africa. (2019, January 17). Retrieved from https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/history-apartheid-south-africa

Afrikaner. (2018, January 05). SAHO. Retrieved from https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/afrikaner

BOIS, F. (2006). Judicial Selection in Post-Apartheid South Africa. In Malleson K. & Russell P. (Eds.), Appointing Judges in an Age of Judicial Power: Critical Perspectives from around the World (pp. 280-312). Toronto; Buffalo; London: University of Toronto Press. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.snhu.edu/stable/10.3138/9781442670921.19

Chokshi, M. (1995). The Use of Computers to Support Oppression. Retrieved from http://www-cs-students.stanford.edu/~cale/cs201/apartheid.comp.html

Davenport, T. R., & Saunders, C. (2002). South Africa: A modern history. London: MacMillan. Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=UgaMDAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=south africa history&ots=gvQ9fi_rql&sig=3P_aMvpuae03NQEtggZe5SwBNbk#v=onepage&q&f=false.

National Party (NP). (2017, August 10). Retrieved from https://www.sahistory.org.za/topic/national-party-np

South Africa's Foreign Relations during Apartheid, 1948. (2017, August 10). Retrieved from https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/south-africas-foreign-relations-during-apartheid-1948

Thompson, L. M. (2001). A history of South Africa. Yale University Press. Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=anmnV3mVonAC&oi=fnd&pg=PR5&dq=History+of+South+Africa&ots=9oaIEMdzqW&sig=D4E53pEJCVEJNCEZXZF0r8TiesA#v=onepage&q=History%20of%20South%20Africa&f=false

Walker, N. D. (1989). [Ocean currents around South Africa]. Retrieved from http://www-das.uwyo.edu/~geerts/cwx/notes/chap11/safrica.html