Apartheid South Africa

South Africa

Apartheid The official policy of racial segregation formerly practiced in the Republic of South Africa, involving political, legal, and economic discrimination against nonwhites.

How it Worked Under apartheid, people were legally classified into a racial group - the main ones being White, Black, Indian and Colored They were geographically, and forcibly, separated from each other on the basis of the legal classification. The Black majority, in particular, legally became citizens of particular "homelands“.

Homelands Homelands were independent states to which each African was assigned by the government according to the record of origin (which was frequently inaccurate). All political rights, including voting, held by an African were restricted to the designated homeland. The idea was that they would be citizens of the homeland, losing their citizenship in South Africa and any right of involvement with the South African Parliament. Africans living in the homelands needed passports to enter South Africa: aliens in their own country.

Apartheid Starting in 1948, the Nationalist Government in South Africa enacted laws to define and enforce segregation. With the enactment of apartheid laws in 1948, racial discrimination was institutionalized. Apartheid "maintained white power by denying political and economic liberty to black South Africans."[

Apartheid Laws The Population Registration Act, 1950, required that every South African be classified into one of a number of racial "population groups. The Reservation of Separate Amenities Act, 1953 allowed public premises, vehicles and services to be segregated by race, even if equal facilities were not made available to all races.

Apartheid Laws The Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act, 1949 forbade marriages between white people and people of other races. The Natives Land Act, 1913 limited land ownership by black people to 7% of the land area of South Africa. The Group Areas Act, 1950 (re-enacted in 1957 and 1966) divided urban areas into "group areas" in which ownership and residence was restricted to certain population groups.

Who lives Where??

The Symbol of Apartheid The Passbook

The Passbook A pass was issued only to a black person with approved work. Spouses and children had to be left behind in non-white areas. Many white households employed blacks as domestic workers, who were allowed to live on the premises— often in small rooms external to the family home. A pass was issued for one magisterial district (usually one town) confining the holder to that area only.

The Passbook Being without a valid pass made a person subject to immediate arrest and summary trial, often followed by deportation to the person's homeland. Police vans patrolled the "white" areas to round up the "illegal" blacks.

Nelson Mandela jailed for 20 years in his fight against Apartheid

Lived to vote in the first racially democratic election 1994

Lived to vote in the first racially democratic election 1994

And Become President of South Africa South African President Nelson Mandela, center, flanked by his two deputy presidents, Thabo Mbeki, left and F.W. de Klerk, right, celebrate the new constitution, May 8, 1996. (AP/WWP Photo Leon Muller)

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize 1993 was awarded jointly to Nelson Mandela and Frederik Willem de Klerk "for their work for the peaceful termination of the apartheid regime, and for laying the foundations for a new democratic South Africa"

The Baobab Tree is a symbol of the strength of Africa. In June 1999 I received a message from a plant spirit to go and make the essence of a beautiful white flower which I saw as a vision in my mind during a meditation. It had large white petals and a profusion of white stamens emerging from it. I later found out the flower I had seen was that of the Baobab Tree. I was asked to go in December 1999 to the north of South Africa to make the remedy, and was told that it would help to "heal the scars of South Africa" and bring black and white people together. The struggle for freedom in South Africa has become a symbol for the struggle more widely in the world to end wars and inequality.

The Rwandan Genocide 1994

History of the Conflict In the fifteenth century the Tutsis were the rulers of most of today's Rwanda Put in place by the Belgians to rule Tutsis were a minority of the population, mostly herders Majority Hutus were mostly croppers When kings distributed the land, they gave it the to Tutsis who charged Hutus to live and work on the land

Evolution of Titles Originally an ethnic distinction Everyone who wasn’t Tutsi is labeled Hutu Became an economic status Gaining wealth meant losing “Hutuness” When the Belgians gained the land as part of the Treaty of Versailles in 1918, they used the distinction to “divide and rule” Issued passcards to Rwandans Gave preferential treatment to Tutsis (“with the long nose”) Hutu’s had “blunt nose”

Beginning of a Social Revolution Hutus begin to form a a nationalist party (Parmahutu) to fight for their rights in 1959 Began killings of Tutsi (20,000 the first year) 200,000 Tutsi refugees flee border and from the Rwanda Patriotic Front Rwanda gains its independence from Belgium in 1961

What we have so far… Tutsi minority is ruling Hutus have formed groups to fight against the injustice Tutsi refugees have formed groups in other countries

The Rwandan Civil War Conflict lasting from 1990-1993+ Between the government of President Habyarimana (Hutu) and the rebel Rwandan Patriotic Front (Tutsi group in other country) Tutsis were trying to take back the power in Rwanda Peace agreements were signed, but Habyarimana (Hutu President) doesn’t cede power to any other political party Habyarimana

The Action of… two extremist Hutu militias The Interahamwe "those who stand together" or "those who work together" or "those who fight together” A Hutu paramilitary organization Backed by the Hutu Government Impuzamugambi "Those who have the same goal" or "Those who have a single goal" Hutu militia

The Catalyst On April 6, 1994,the airplane carrying Rwandan President Habyarimana and the Hutu president of Burundi was shot down as it prepared to land in Kigali Both presidents died when the plane crashed. Responsibility for the attack is disputed, with both the RPF and Hutu extremists being blamed In spite of disagreements about the identities of its perpetrators, the attack on the plane is to many observers the catalyst for the genocide

The Beginnings of Genocide National radio urged people to stay in their homes the government-funded station RTLM broadcast vitriolic attacks against Tutsis and Hutu moderates Hundreds of roadblocks were set up by the militia around the country Lieutenant-General Dallaire of the UN Peacekeeping Force and UNAMIR, escorting Tutsis in Kigali, were unable to do anything as Hutus kept escalating the violence and even started targeting the peacekeepers themselves

The Killings Killed in their villages or in towns, often by their neighbors and fellow villagers Militia members typically murdered their victims by hacking them with machetes, although some army units used rifles The victims were often hiding in churches and school buildings, where Hutu gangs massacred them Ordinary citizens were called on by local officials and government-sponsored radio to kill their neighbors and those who refused to kill were often killed themselves Everyone killed so they weren’t killed themselves: Mayors Priests EVERYONE

Number Killed Unlike Nazis they didn’t keep record The RPF government has stated that 1,071,000 were killed, 10% of which were Hutu (determined in February 2008) Gourevitch agrees with an estimate of one million United Nations lists the toll as 800,000 African Rights estimates the number as "around 750,000," Human Rights Watch states that it was "at least 500,000

Issues Post-Genocide Approximately two million Hutu refugees, most of whom were participants in the genocide and with anticipation of Tutsi retaliation, fled from Rwanda, to Burundi, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) Thousands of them died in epidemics of diseases common to the squalor of refugee camps, such as cholera and dysentery These are the refugee camps that were aided by the UN and the US The refugees have fueled wars in Uganda, Burundi, and the DRC

Questions Still Exist Why didn’t the US do anything? Why didn’t the UN listen to Daillaire? How could people kill their neighbors? How many actually died? How can we prevent this from happening again?