Apartheid and Its Opponents
Although Europeans first colonized what is now the country of South Africa in the middle of the 17th century, it was not until the 1948 election of the Afrikaner-led National Party that the system of apartheid—
All people,irrespective of the national group they belong to and irrespective ofthe color of their skin,who have made South Africa their home,are entitled to live afull and free life
Mandela later recalled of the effort:
Prior to the campaign, the ANC was more talk than action.
(The Long Walk To Freedom, Abacus Edition, pg. 159).
Violence and instability grew within South Africa.
Do students have any questions about the reading? How might they be answered?
According to the reading, what were some of the defining features of the apartheid system?
What was the Defiance Campaign and what were its aims?
The End of Apartheid and the Beginning of National Reconciliation
By the 1980s, resistance to apartheid had reached its peak. Many feared that a civil war in South Africa was inevitable.
With Mandela free and with the ANC serving as the primary political party of the country's non-white majority, apartheid appeared to be on its last legs.
For several years before the fall of apartheid, white South Africans had been dreading its end,
Fear crept into his voice.
Instead, under Mandela's leadership, the ANC led the country a path toward reconciliation.
Mandela's policy of reconciliation quelled the most lurid fears of South African whites.
His views have since softened, somewhat. ``Now we call Mandela a gentle old man,'' said Fuhri.
Do students have any questions about the reading? How might they be answered?
According to the reading, what were some of the fears of white South Africans upon the fall of apartheid? How did racism fuel these fears?
While they have gained political rights, many black South Africans still face poverty and inequality.
By the time apartheid was being formalized in South African law in 1948, blacks in the southern United States had been living under a system of racial segregation for more than half a century.