South Africa & Apartheid Note: The racial terms used in this lecture are common to South Africa and are not considered insulting there. In the US, “colored” is insulting; “blacks” is a borderline term that should be used judiciously, if at all.

South African History  Khoi Khoi pastoralists, San hunter-gatherers, Bantu speaking farmers (includes Zulus, Xhosas and dozens of other groups  1600s – Dutch (Boers/Afrikaners) and English settlers colonized South Africa, fought each other for control. The British won.  Farmers – land conflicts with native Africans  British arrived in 1800s.  Diamonds and gold found in 1860s. Cecil Rhodes gets incredibly rich, tries to conquer Africa on his own.  Who is going to work in the mines and do other low paid work?

Apartheid  Definition: racial, political, and economic segregation of non-European peoples in South Africa  1948 – 1994  Goal was to use Africans’ labor, but not let them live in the cities with whites.  Based on Afrikaner anxiety about being a small minority with a lot of wealth and power. Map of African homelands – settlements where Africans were forced to live. Enforced by a pass system, subject to fines and jail.

Apartheid Racial Hierarchy  Whites (Afrikaners and English) dominated society.  In the middle were Asians (mostly of Indian descent) + Colored (a mix of local blacks, whites, Khoi-San, and descendants of imported African and Asian slaves).  Black Africans were on the bottom. How does this graph help explain the harshness of apartheid?

Apartheid Economic Hierarchy  Apartheid ended in 1994, yet income disparity between whites and blacks has gotten worse.  School funding under apartheid still plays a role. There was a student: teacher ratio of 18:1for white schools (96% of teachers were certified) and 39:1 for black schools (just 15% were certified).  Many top universities did not admit blacks.

A History of Apartheid  South Africa gains its independence  African National Congress (ANC) founded to increase rights of black South Africans  (post WWII) government is taken over by policy of apartheid (separateness) when (Afrikaner) National Party takes power Boers – later to be called Afrikaners

Life Under Apartheid Marriage across color lines illegal Separate and unequal living areas - homelands Jobs only in white areas All non-whites carry a pass book at all times.

Most white people lived in nice houses.

Most blacks lived in shantytowns

Shantytowns

South Africa was really two countries  White South Africa had good schools, good medical care, and basically lived like Americans or Europeans.  Black South Africa had terrible, overcrowded schools, poor medical care, and lived in a 3 rd world country.  Many blacks were forced to live in “homelands”— kind of like reservations. Poverty was very high.

Even the bathrooms were separated

When blacks protested, the government used violence.

Boycott Helped Bring Apartheid Down  Blacks resisted for decades. But by the 1970s, European and American racism was less than it was during colonialism.  U.S. got rid of racist laws and legal segregation in the 1960s.  In the 1970s and 1980s, people around the world boycotted South Africa. Governments isolated South Africa.  Blacks kept on resisting, often but not always in non- violent ways. This helped win over world public opinion.

Resistance to Apartheid African National Congress formed to protest Apartheid Sharpeville Massacre , attack on unarmed civilians by police Soweto Uprising – 1976 (clash between students and police - over 200 died) Children’s Drawing – Red Location Museum

Nelson Mandela: Before and After Prison

After 27 Years in this and other prison cells

Leaders Mandela ---> Head of ANC until imprisoned in >Jailed for 27 years ---> Released in 1991 to help the government end Apartheid ---> Elected first black president of South Africa in 1994

Steve Biko  Anti Apartheid activist 1970s  Organized protests (such as Soweto uprising)  Murdered by police

Apartheid Ends  1990 – President FW deKlerk frees Nelson Mandela from prison  ANC and government work together to end apartheid  1994 – Mandela becomes president

Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC)  Headed by Bishop Desmond Tutu.

How it Worked  The TRC Offered Amnesty for Crimes Committed by Government Officials, even secret police or anti- apartheid activists who murdered people.  But they had to tell everything about the crimes they had committed.  They had to submit to questions from the widows and other survivors of their victims.  If they refused to testify, or lied, they could then go to jail.

The Whole Country Watched

Listening to Terrible Details

Widows Finally Found Out Details of Husbands’ Deaths

Secret Police Showing TRC Their Torture Techniques

The TRC Helped to Heal the Nation

Mandela Elected President in 1994  Concentrated on reconciliation.  But serious problems remain: AIDS. 5.7 million people are HIV +.  Poverty. Inequality remains, even though it’s no longer legal to discriminate against blacks.  Violence. Country hit by huge crime wave in the 1990s and 2000s. Still a problem, though somewhat less severe this decade.

But Not Everyone is Ready to Forgive

Quickwrite Do you think the TRC was right to give amnesty to secret police and other criminals?