South African Racialism
Racialism Research Assignment ________________________________________Hypothesis: "that racialism began to develop in South Africa when the Dutch first arrived. It gradually worsened as the white population took advantage of the native Blacks, and the government system of Apartheid was introduced, despite attempts to alleviate it such as protests and rallies. Finally, in the latter part of the twentieth century outside pressure forced the Apartheid system to disappear and South Africa's first black president emerged."Racialism began to develop in South Africa when the first white settlement was founded in 1652, which was established by the Dutch East India Company. "However, shortage of labour quickly led to two decisions that were to have far-reaching consequences on South Africa's history" (Encarta Encyclopaedia, (2000): South Africa, Republic of). One of the decisions was the allowed use of slave labour, which originally involved imported workers from India and Indonesia, but as importation can be a costly business, and some labourers fall ill on the voyages, it wasn't long until some the local black populace was doing the Dutch's work.
At the same time, Mohandas Ghandi was leading peaceful revolts in the Transvaal, objecting to laws stating that they had to carry passes. The British, eager to make some extra profit, annexed Basutoland and Griqualand West in 1868 and 1871 respectively, which included the Kimberly diamond fields. Within 4 years, British troops had occupied Port Natal (now Durban) and annexed the hinterland as a colony. Tens of thousands of black Africans were arrested and imprisoned every year, because they had migrated to the better facilitated white sectors. On March 21, 1960, the ANC and PAC jointly organised an illegal, but peaceful, demonstration against the apartheid regimes pass laws in Sharpeville, near Johannesburg, the police opened fire on the protestors. An extent of financial restraints imposed by the international market has made the monetary redistribution which is necessary for an equal social society quite difficult. The British had to resort to concentration camps and 'scorched earth' policies to achieve victory. The ANC won with a huge majority in all but two of the nine provinces (because in one of the provinces it was a White majority and in the other another political party was using intimidation techniques). More revolts occurred in the cities, and complemented with the increasing external pressure on South Africa, the government had little choice but to make further reforms. Classifications were initially based on their "community acceptance", but more stress was placed on "appearance", in order to stop Blacks 'passing' as Whites. This was a unique series of hearings that continued through to April 1998, which included over 15,000 testimonies from victims of apartheid, and set an example for a country dealing with the injustices of its past. After the Sharpeville Massacre, the National Party uprooted over 3 million Africans in "black spots" in white cities and relocated them to ten ethnically defined homelands. Peaceful demonstrations were continually held by the ANC and PAC, trying to alleviate and remove the harsh apartheid laws.
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