Abstract This paper studies the economic impact of apartheid in South Africa between 1948 and 1991. It looks at post war economic problems and the rise of the National Party, its ruthless enforcement of apartheid and South Africa as one of the most unequal countries in the world.
From the Paper "This sent shock waves through the white community particularly among white South Africans in the lowest economic strata who feared that companies would replace them with lower wage earning Black workers. This resulted in a knee jerk reaction among the all-white electorate. According to Stephen Lewis this reaction resulted in the surprise election victory ..."
Tags: Economic impact, apartheid, south africa, mandella, anc, sanctions, united nations, national party, poverty, minority, majority
Abstract This paper attempts to define the system of apartheid. It reviews the history, structure and key players of the South African system of apartheid. The paper then explores the effects of apartheid on South Africa's economy. Finally, the paper concludes with the assertion that the very structure of Apartheid was corrosive and thus led to the demise of the South African economy.
From the Paper "Long before Apartheid became the official political system of South Africa, the nation struggled with animosity among the races. Much of this animosity could be attributed to the settlement of the Dutchmen and Englishmen. Many of these settlers acquired their land through conquest and for that reason they feared the black majority. Thus the Europeans began to segregate themselves from the Africans."
Tags: afrikaans, apartness, nation, races, dutchmen, englishmen, african, national, congress
An analysis of Mark Mathabane's book "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography", specifically focusing on apartheid in South Africa and the appalling prejudice and segregation between blacks and whites under the regime.
Abstract This paper introduces, discusses, and analyzes the book "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane. Mathabane's book allows the reader to enter the South African world of apartheid and understand more about the system as it worked in South African life. Apartheid, a system of separation and segregation between blacks and whites existed in South Africa until 1994, and it drove a wedge between the people, the country, and its relationship with the world. This paper discusses how the book shows the deep wedge between races, and how much blacks suffered under the system. Furthermore, it looks at how Mathabane's story makes the time of apartheid real to the reader, and shows how prejudice and hatred can tear a people and a country apart. It also discusses that even with apartheid and racism, the author still deeply loves his home country.
From the Paper "As the book continues, it is difficult to believe some of the atrocities and outrages were allowed to continue as long as they did. The whites oppressed the blacks and other minorities so completely, it was difficult for them to even survive. For example, Mathabane's father is arrested simply for being unemployed, one of the 'worst' offenses a black man could commit in South Africa. Some of the situations would be laughable, if they were not so real, and many of them are remarkable. Blacks are not allowed to own houses, and the government can tear down their ghetto on a whim, leaving entire families homeless and desperate. Yet, the whites, who enjoy an incredibly high standard of living, do nothing to ease the tensions and inequalities in their country. It is as if there are two separate countries, united only by the name, 'South Africa,' and the as the book continues, it draws the reader in, until they feel as if they are a part of the fight for freedom. It also makes them feel outrage that such atrocities were allowed to continue for so very long."
Tags: prejudice apartheid, south africa, hatred relationship segregation
Abstract The paper examines and discusses the response of major powers in the world to the rule of apartheid in South Africa. In particular, the author focuses on the United States, the (now defunct) Soviet Union and Great Britain. The author examines the development of apartheid in South Africa and describes how differing power blocks worked towards an abolition of Apartheid. The author then compares the course chosen by the Soviet Union, the United States, Great Britain and other western countries to end apartheid and looks at the effectiveness of those policies.
Outline:
Thesis
Antithesis
Synthesis
Works Cited
From the Paper "It is important to note that, once the United States and Britain took some level of meaningful action in the mid-1980s, apartheid was gone in less than a decade. South African Pres. F.W. de Clerk began dismantling apartheid in 1990 and held the country's first free, open elections in 1994. Certainly, the demise of apartheid could be attributed to the cumulative effects of years of pressure from other nations, but when the United States and Britain officially condemned apartheid with economic sanctions, the South African regime lost its last elements of legitimacy. It is reasonable to think that, with continued American and British support, apartheid could have lasted longer in South Africa. It is equally important to note that the effects of weak measures by the Americans and British were arguably devastating to the South African people. By all accounts, the 30-plus years of limited or no activity by the American and British were marked by thousands of cases of execution, torture and unlawful imprisonment. Twenty-two thousand South Africans have been officially recommended for government reparations, although this number it considered a dramatic understatement, and it does not, obviously, include the dead (Singer, 2004). And, certainly, government-forced poverty took a toll on millions of other South Africans. In short, the cost of American and British inactivity was extremely high."
Tags: race discrimination segregation sanctions anc black africa, cold war, communism democracy, soviet union, united states, great britain
Abstract This paper asserts that in order to understand the reasons and roots of apartheid, one must first understand the history of South Africa. The author therefore provides a detailed historical account of South Africa from the fifteenth century until today, including colonization, slavery, industrial development and the leadership of Hendrik French Verwoerd, the prime minister responsible for introducing apartheid. The second half of the paper is devoted to a study of the anti-apartheid movement, culminating in the election of Nelson Mandela.
From the Paper "Until the fifteenth century tribes in South Africa remained isolated from the rest of the world. However, late in the fifteenth century the Portuguese began to explore the western coastline of South Africa in search of an easier route to Asia. By1497, five years after Christopher Columbus had crossed the Atlantic under Portuguese patronage, Vasco da Gama led a Portuguese expedition that rounded the tip of South Africa, sailed along the east African coastline, and then crossed the Indian Ocean reaching Calicut, India."
Abstract This paper explores, from a historical perspective, the evolution of imperial colonialism in South Africa by examining the political impact of the apartheid period on the society and the people and on the South African society today. The author points out that all the definitions of the term 'apartheid' contain the basic idea of segregated identities based on race, color or social position. The paper relates that the Group Areas Act of 1950 formally established apartheid in South Africa by delimiting by law the respective districts for each race and by barring members from other races from living, operating businesses or owning land in these districts.
From the Paper "This new structure of the society benefited from the vote of the population in 1948 when the Nationalistic Party came to power. It represented the legitimization of the white dominated system of law that is because in most cases "the institutions of white economic and political domination were already in place." According to their creed, "they sought to free South Africa from the 'yoke' of British imperial control" . Therefore, it can be said that the rise to power of the nationalistic forces, ..., was the result of the indirect actions of the colonial system of government. "
Abstract This paper examines the international factors that led to the end of apartheid in South Africa. Over the years, the system increasingly came under fire from international sources both inside and outside governments. It discusses how from economic sanctions to grassroots political activism, external sources played an enormous role in pressuring the South African government to reform and subsequently abolish Apartheid in 1993.
From the Paper "Although generally slower to react than other outside sources, world governments including international "government" played a crucial role in the demise of the apartheid system in South Africa. Both the General Assembly and Security Council in the UN imposed sanctions against South Africa in order to exert pressure to change. A series of resolutions and sanctions by the UN beginning in 1962 truly began the formal international efforts to end apartheid. A resolution in ?62 called for all UN states to break diplomatic relations with South Africa, boycott South African trade, and refuse landing rights to all planes belonging to the South African government."
Tags: economic, sanctions, arms, embargos, boycott, blacks, un
Abstract This paper examines first the general history of apartheid in South Africa, and then continues through examining the various perceptions held towards apartheid by Africans and the women in sub-Saharan Africa.
Abstract This paper explains that, although the political and legal bases of apartheid have collapsed, and discrimination in South Africa, at least on the official level ,has ended, the spirit of apartheid has survived because it is part of the country's culture, society, and economy.
From the Paper "The apartheid regime in South Africa supposedly came to an end the day that the country democratically elected its first black president, the anti-apartheid activist, Nelson Mandela. However, there is still evidence that apartheid is alive in South Africa. The political and legal collapse of this system of discrimination does not mean that discrimination has ended in any sense of the word. The spirit of apartheid lives on and will take decades in order to eliminate. Although the African majority has taken power for the first time in South Africa because of the democratic elections, there is a big feeling that insures the existing of apartheid in South Africa. There are some points prove that South Africa has not explicitly succeeded to put an end to apartheid (racial discrimination) where the white minority ruled the black majority, but racial discrimination still prevails implicitly. In spite of freedom, the spirit of apartheid is still a live and prevailing in health care, job opportunity and in taking superiority in political positions (Meghan Erica Irons.) The reason of the existing of apartheid is because the wheel of changes "spins so slowly." It is true that the post-apartheid regime in South Africa has made political and social achievements to narrow the gap between whites and blacks, but still the spirit of apartheid continues to prevail because the government promised more than it could fulfill and the ANC accommodated itself to the new post-apartheid regime, thus economic and social disparity continues to prevail in favor of the whites."
Abstract This paper explores South Africa's experience as a divided nation and its process of recovery in the past two decades. First, the paper considers the issue of affirmative action in South Africa. The author then acknowledges that elements of apartheid still exist. In order to overcome this divisiveness, the author examines the experiences of other divided nations, such as Germany and Korea. The author concludes that apartheid in South Africa has not ended, but has merely gone 'underground' so that it can still be active but not in the overt sense that it used to be.
From the Paper "The promotion of a collective or a group identity, therefore, necessarily involves subordinating the individuality that is seen within the group. Furthermore, being able to strengthen one's identity based on race, religion, language, or caste is also considered divisive and threatening to the equality and the freedom of the country (Gramby-Sobukwe, 2002). Quotas are then viewed as being a means to help achieve an equality of outcome by working to deny an equality of opportunity or a fundamental right of various individuals (Gramby-Sobukwe, 2002)."
Abstract This paper examines early international opposition to apartheid and its discussion by the U.N. including it's failure as a result of disagreements.
It looks at the attempts to impose sanctions against South Africa and the reluctance of Western states to antagonise South Africa due to trade and fears over communism. It discusses the relatively effective action of businesses and individuals through disinvestment as well as the attitudes of American Presidents and their effects on international opposition. The paper also touches on attempts by African states to oppose apartheid in South Africa and the use of sport (such as exclusion from sporting events) to isolate South Africa from the rest of the international community.
From the Paper "The United Nations was one of the first international bodies to take action against the South African government; Reddy claims that as early as 1946, the question of South Africa's racial policy was being raised in the UN. It is claimed changes in the rest of the world resulted in increased pressure on the South African regime from the UN. As a growing number of former colonies gained independence, they used the UN to highlight the issue of South Africa's racial policy. For example, in 1952, 14 African and Arabic states placed South Africa on the agenda of the UN General Assembly, claiming that the policy 'had created a dangerous and explosive situation that held a danger to international peace and represented a blatant breach of the basic principals of human rights and freedoms' . "
Abstract The paper describes the period of apartheid in South Africa where the government enacted laws of segregation between blacks and whites. The paper relates that while the 1990s brought an end to the discriminatory practices of apartheid, its remnants still exist in the forms of economic inequality, unequal land ownership and poor health in black communities. The paper looks at the African National Congress' implementation of the Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) policy and the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act (PEPUDA) in their efforts to combat these types of inequality. The fundamental concerns and limitations associated with these endeavors are also considered.
From the Paper "South Africa represents an ethnically diverse country with large proportions of Caucasian, Indian, and racially-mixed communities on the Continent. The East Asian population represents a very small minority, with Chinese South Africans who are the descendants of migrants workers classified as Indian or non-white, while those from Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan hold an honorary white status, because of their home countries' diplomatic ties. The gist, at around 80% of the population consists of Black South Africans, who collectively speak nine officially-recognized languages, and make up the poorest layer of the population. Blacks represent over 90% of the 21.9 million poor, with the rate of poverty continuing to increase for all ethnic groups and provinces."
Abstract This paper examines how Apartheid was founded on the principle of segregation thus, in order for a race or 'nation' to progress and prosper it should be separated from other races or 'nations'. It looks at how this has led to what is more commonly know as "Homelands" or Bantustans. It also attempts to analyse what really was the homeland system, why it was necessary and why was it such a failure.
From the Paper "By removal of blacks from white areas it would create a surplus of jobs for whites, thus the government saw it necessary to do so in order to protect certain classes of whites. By moving Africans into homelands, it would restrict mobility into white areas and in turn, the threat of cheap labour as a substitute would be eradicated. But on the other hand the idea of moving industries to the white side of the border of the homelands or by moving them into the interior of the homelands would provide a large amount of cheap labour thus cutting costs and, at the same time eradicating the number of blacks living in urban areas. Agricultural land owned by blacks in South Africa was expropriated and farmers paid little compensation for their losses."
Abstract This paper examines how variances in race and color, controlled, confined and humiliated native South Africans for almost a century. Decades of oppression took their toll on black South Africans and they eventually resisted against their oppressors. It looks at how the cumulative resistance of oppressed South Africans and sympathizers from other countries ultimately triggered the downfall of the apartheid-enforcing government.
From the Paper "The black citizens of South Africa, who were subjected to innumerable atrocities under the government of the Afrikaners, were forced into reluctant but violent protests. The majority groups within South Africa formed several organizations in hopes of peacefully obtaining the liberties to which they were entitled. These organizations, quickly banned and dissolved by the Apartheid government, included the African Political Organization, formed in 1902, the 1923 South African Indian Congress, and the African National Congress (ANC) of 1912. The African Political Organization was created in order to protest the injustices of the present government toward the oppressed people in general, while other organizations were created to protect only the rights of certain races or groups of people. The South African Indian Congress was such an organization."
Abstract In this article, the writer notes that Naomi Klein's 'The Shock Doctrine' outlines the controversy behind capitalistic governmental actions taken in times of great need. The writer discusses that in her chapter "Disaster Apartheid: A World of Green Zones and Red Zones," Klein strongly critiques the handling of the Hurricane Katrina disaster by the United States government. The writer points out that Klein's writing analyzes the individual mistreatments of the catastrophic situation and argues against the profit incentive procedures taken throughout the relief efforts. The writer maintains that although Naomi Klein's piece is very persuasive, she persuades unfairly through the use of misleading comparisons and one-sided claims that inaccurately inform the reader. The writer concludes that Naomi Klein's strong liberal and progressive ideas as a politically active journalist transform her informative piece to a misleading perspective on the United States government handling of disaster reconstruction.
From the Paper "Naomi Klein interprets the Hurricane Katrina catastrophe for the many flaws in the actions taken by the government in prevention, survival, and rehabilitation in New Orleans. She points out the lack of planning that allowed the effects of the hurricane to have impact of such magnitude while criticizing efforts made towards evacuation. Her writing argues the segregation of classes in New Orleans, allowing the middle and upper classes to drive to safety while the predominately black lower class was left helpless. The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina show other mishandlings of the fragile situation by the government. Federal and state organizations distributed power amongst private, profit based, contracted companies and allowed for a shift towards profit incentive instead of rehabilitation. The destruction of homes, neighborhoods, and schools gave light for new gated communities and privately run boarding schools, while the poor were left nothing."
