The history of South Africa has deep roots in racism

The history of South Africa has deep roots in racism, but it wasn’t until 1948 that the apartheid began to completely dominate the country. The National Party took control of the government from 1948 until 1994. 5 There were different ways this policy was implemented, as well as the ways it was resisted. At the beginning of this new policy known as the apartheid, the National Party put in place the system of extended racial discrimination throughout the country. According to Nigel Worden, the cornerstone of apartheid was “the division of all South Africans by race” and this was ensured by many laws that were put into place. 4 The prohibition of mixed marriages was put into place in 1949 and the Immorality Act banned all sexual contact between whites and other South Africans, including Indians and coloreds. These laws were aiming to achieve the extreme goal of complete division of whites and other South Africans in the country. Along with the laws that prohibit people of different race to have relations, there were also laws that prohibited them from living in the same area. They weren’t allowed to even be near each other. The Group Areas Act of 1950 “extended the principle of separate racial residential areas on a comprehensive and compulsory basis” and this was especially felt in the cities where forced removals happened consistently and were viewed as “justified” because of the laws that had been implemented. 4 This was just the beginning of segregation laws and soon the country was bringing segregation into all aspects of life. In 1953, there was enforced segregation in all public places, including transport, cinemas, restaurants, and sports facilities. 4 The apartheid was soon extended to education as well in set in place in schools all over South Africa. The division and separation of whites and other South Americans was seen in almost every aspect of human life. In 1958, there was another election in South Africa and the National Party obtained almost twice as many seats as its opponents, which was a result of all of incorporation of a predominantly white government and removal of colored South Africans. 4 This was the beginning of the apartheid and its aggressive start up in the early 1950s had lasting effects. Figure 1 is a sign that says “White Area” representing the very apparent racism in South Africa in the 1950s.