Question

Write a note on the policy of Apartheid.

Answer 1

Hint: Any discrimination against an individual on the basis of his and her skin colour, or racial origin is known as Racial discrimination. One can be discriminated against when a person refuses to socialize or engage in activity with the other solely because of their skin colour.

Complete answer: Apartheid was a system of legislation that upheld segregationist policies against non-white citizens of South Africa. After the National Party gained power in South Africa in 1948, its all-white government immediately began enforcing existing policies of racial segregation. Apartheid was characterized by an authoritarian political culture based on white supremacy, which assured that minority of white people would socially, politically and economically dominate South Africa. Officially it appeared to call for equal development and freedom of cultural expression, but in reality, the implementation made this impossible. These laws forced different racial groups to live separately and develop separately. Under this law, nonwhite South Africans (a majority of the population) would be forced to live in separate areas from whites and use separate public facilities. Despite being strongly opposed and consistent retaliation to apartheid within and outside of South Africa, its laws remained in effect for 50 years. The first apartheid law condemned mixed marriages in 1949, followed closely by the Immorality Amendment Act of 1950, which made it illegal for most South African citizens to marry or engage in sexual relationships across racial lines.
In 1948, the general elections were won by the Afrikaner National Party, under the slogan “apartheid” (literally “apartness”). Their major goal was not only to segregate South Africa’s white minority from its non-white majority, but also to detach non-whites from each other, and to divide black South Africans along tribal lines in order to decrease their political power. According to this system of social stratification, white citizens had the highest status, followed by Asians and Coloreds, then black Africans.

Note: The system of Apartheid was ended with a series of negotiations between 1990 when Nelson Mandela was freed from Prison to 1993 through steps taken by de Klerk government. The African National Congress won the first-ever non-racial elections in South Africa.