In the 1940s, the South African government formally established apartheid (“apartness”) as a legal system to divide racial groups into a social hierarchy. This chapter examines apartheid’s restrictive policies, its fervent white supporters, and its determined non-white opponents.
Overview
Essential Questions
- How did the white minority use apartheid to promote and protect its political, social, and economic power?
- What were the ideas, tactics, and strategies used by those who resisted apartheid?
- How did the implementation of apartheid change life for the South African people, and how did they respond?
Introduction
Democracy & Civic Engagement
Early Apartheid: 1948-1970
Study the National Party’s implementation of strict racial laws, the forms of defiance by black South Africans and other minority groups, and the government’s harsh reaction to this defiance.
Reading 1 of 6
Democracy & Civic Engagement
Apartheid Policies
Read the National Party’s 1948 statement in support of apartheid, which justifies separation as a way to preserve the white European race.
Reading 2 of 6
Democracy & Civic Engagement
Experiencing Apartheid
Writer Mtutuzeli Matshoba provides a vivid account of life under apartheid through the story of his friend who was forcibly ejected from his home.
Reading 3 of 6
Democracy & Civic Engagement
A Wife's Lament
Consider the unique experiences of black South African women during apartheid, many of whom were forced to live far away from their husbands on bantustans.
Reading 4 of 6
Democracy & Civic Engagement
The Freedom Charter
Examine the 1955 Freedom Charter, established by the ANC and supporting groups, which calls for all races to enjoy equal rights, protections, and benefits under the law.
Reading 5 of 6
Democracy & Civic Engagement
Women Rise Up Against Apartheid and Change the Movement
Activist Frances Baard details the struggle of black South African women under apartheid and their active participation in anti-apartheid demonstrations, including the multiracial 1956 Women’s March on Pretoria.
Reading 6 of 6
Democracy & Civic Engagement
Mandela on Trial
Nelson Mandela describes the ANC and PAC’s shift from non-violent resistance of apartheid to violent sabotage under the militant faction MK in his testimony during the Rivonia Trial.
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