Question

What was apartheid?
A. Gender discrimination
B. Linguistic discrimination
C. Caste discrimination
D. Racial discrimination.

Answer 1

Hint:Apartheid was a policy started in South Africa in the year 1948 and ended in the year 1990 by the Klerk Government through various negotiations. The meaning of the word Apartheid is separateness or the being apart and used in the year 1929.

Complete answer:
Option A, Gender discrimination is defined as the psychological, biological and cultural differences between males and females that have existed in the society since ages. In this various norms have been made separately for both the gender which has created an evil scenario on earth. It is the practice of giving more advantage to one gender as compared to another which has impacted almost all fields of life such as for jobs male are more preferred, regarding the attire women have been always discriminated against, for household purposes men are always put down etc. So, it is not the relevant answer.
Option B, Linguistic discrimination means the barriers created in the society due the expression and use of languages. It is the unfair treatment of an individual due to his/her accent and native language being used. So, it is also not the correct answer.
Option C, Caste discrimination is defined as the differentiation made in the individuals due to the origin in which he/she is born and belongs to that caste system only. Some of the examples of caste system are ‘untouchability’ which was prominent in India. So, it is also not the correct answer.
Option D, Racial discrimination was started in South Africa which is the differentiation between the white and non-white people. In this the non-white or black people were restricted from performing a number of activities such as to not avail public facilities, separate educational standards were created, jobs were denied, separate laws were made etc. and this is defined as Apartheid. So, it is the most appropriate answer.

Hence the correct answer is option ‘D’.

Note: Apartheid was included in the policy of the South African in the general elections of 1948. The first law of the apartheid was Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act, 1949 which restricted the marriage or pursuance of sexual relationships across racial lines.