Thesis- That the era of apartheid in South Africa enforced racist ideals on to the minds
of society, and although is no longer in place, has left legacy that may never
South Africa is a country tormented by a past of enforced racism and separation of its
multi-racial community. The 'superior' white Europeans invaded the country and imposed a
political system known as 'Apartheid' (meaning 'apartness'). This system severely restricted the
rights and lifestyle of the non-white inhabitants of the country forcing them to live separately
from the white Europeans. This system of imposed racial ideas although now ended, has left an
imprint on the thoughts and actions of society in South Africa today.
Dutch farmers known as the Boers settled the African lands. Eventually, a rising great
Britain noted the rich resources and strategic location of the country. Britain imposed it's rule on
rebellious Boers, pushing the Boers off their land and eventually sparking the Boer war. Britain
employed an overwhelming force to subdue the Boers. Ironically the Boers, now called
Afrikaners, triumphed. . The Afrikaners imposed the Apartheid system, which "aimed to turn the
already segregated society into completely divided and separately developing racial communities"
The Apartheid system brought about many laws to ensure that the races of South Africa
were kept separate. The first major law was the Race Classification Act which divided the citizens
of South Africa into separate groups, white, black and coloured. With this also came the Group
Areas Act, which was imposed to ensure that whites and blacks lived separately. South Africa was
divided into separate areas for each race. As a persons race could not only be judged by
appearance, people had to carry something to prove their identity. The reference or pass book
was introduced to ensure that people were not in the wro...