This is an apartheid-era sign depicted in two different languages, exemplifying the apartheid methods of categorization and separation through language.
Amidst growing racial tension in the US today, we begin to wonder, how did this happen? Why did this happen? We can see that the issues that are arising these days are problems that have been brewing for many years. These racial issues are not new wounds to our countries but old scars being brought back to light. Although the history of racism in South Africa is vastly different than that of the U.S, we can look at apartheid as a way to understand and even learn about the problems in our own country. This is especially relevant since the sophomores just read the stellar memoir Born a Crime by Trevor Noah set in South Africa.
Apartheid was a form of systematic racism implemented in South Africa in the mid-1900s and designed by white colonists to suppress Black people. The people of South Africa were segregated based on race and divided into racial groups given varying levels of privileges and rights.
The four main groups were Indian people, White people, Coloured people, and Black people. When a White man or woman had a baby with a black man or woman, that baby was classified as Colored. These groups were separated into townships that were far from equal to each other, with white townships consisting of clean, urban communities and black townships consisting of compacted slums. The goal of Apartheid was to cripple the racial majority of South Africa (which was Black people) and direct the power towards the racial minority (White Afrikaners) through a complex system of racism reinforced by physical separation/segregation.
Non-whites endured the crushing power of apartheid for decades until it came to an end in the ’90s. After the end of Apartheid, the new government established the Truth and Reconciliation committee. The Truth and Reconciliation Committee was a restorative program designed to make reparations and rehabilitate victims of Apartheid, while also exposing acts of gross human rights violations. People were brought to public court hearings where they shared their experiences and brought to light the horrors they were exposed to during Apartheid. Although the system was abolished in name, the effects of Apartheid still resonate throughout South Africa today.
I interviewed two Watauga County residents who were missionaries in South Africa to find out how Apartheid still affects South Africa today.
Pat Ball, who lived in Fish Hoek, South Africa from 2006 until 2010, says, “The most lingering effect of apartheid I encountered was the lack of trust between the three races. There is still quite a lot of tension between the three races with colored people feeling they do not fit in either of the other groups of people.”
The formation of a democratic government and the subsequent end of Apartheid was in 1994, only 26 years ago. The horrors of apartheid are still fresh in the minds of black and colored South Africans, causing a wall of mistrust to be built up between races. The past cannot be erased and it is not forgotten in South Africa. In America, we have a similar situation. Slavery was abolished over 150 years ago, and the Civil Rights movement happened 60 years ago, yet deeply rooted feelings of mistrust still exist, no matter how implicit they may be.
Although South Africa and the U.S share the lingering repercussions of systematic racism, they have major historical differences. One thing that distinguishes Apartheid from the US’s troubled history with racism is how the Afrikaaners utilized the animosity between tribes for their own benefit, purposely breeding hatred to weaken and divide the country.
“Hard feelings still existed...I also noticed tension between people groups/tribes. For example, when a Xhosa leader was president vs. a Zulu leader was president that changes the complexity of certain aspects in the country.” said Cathy Burleson about her experience living in Port Elizabeth, South Africa for two years with her husband. “It was a different world than I was used to for sure.”
Although South Africa’s situation is vastly different than that of the U.S, both countries can learn from each other. Burleson describes South Africa as being “A rainbow nation of many tribes and skin colors,” and so is the US. We live in a country full of many different peoples, and just like how the colors on the rainbow are equally beautiful in their own ways, so are the peoples of the USA.
The past of the U.S and South Africa cannot be erased or forgotten, but Burleson puts it best by saying, “The best way is to look forward and not backward. The past cannot be changed, only the future.”
Another woman from South Africa, Patricia Noah, the mother of Trevor Noah, rings the same bell, “Learn from your past and be better because of your past,'' she says in Born a Crime.
Racism is not going to disappear, Apartheid is still affecting people today and so is the history of Jim Crow Laws and slavery. We must realize this in order to change something. During this time of tension and fear, maybe looking at how other countries have dealt with or are still dealing with similar problems will help us try to start mending the deep wounds of racism in our country.
Written by Nathan Bishop
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