The History of Apartheid: Nelson Mandela Was a Hero
Apartheid was a time of racial oppression that stemmed from an all-white government in South Africa. It went on from 1948-1994. The South African Government created a system to study organized racism all around the world and used that to create the most progressive system of racial oppression. Apartheid translates to “apartness” from the Afrikaans language. Black South Africans were separated from the whites, and interaction between them was prohibited. After the National Party gained office, apartheid became legal, and not much could be done to stop it. It was made possible by the Population Registration Act. This act classified everyone as Black, colored (mixed-race), Asian/Indian or white. Places were classified by race, and Black people were restricted from going to the same places as white people. Millions of Black people were taken from their homes against their will and relocated to areas specifically made for black people. It was also prohibited to have mixed-race marriages, as explained by Trevor Noah in “Born a Crime”. This is why Noah had such an unusual experience growing up as a colored person. He could not be seen with his white father in public without the law getting involved since he was colored. Black people were heavily discriminated against as they were not allowed to vote, or make their voices heard. They were forced to obey the ruling of the whites. Noah explains ways that Black people’s rights were taken away from them in his memoir. He states that, “Black people choose their traditional names with great care; those are the names that have deeply personal meanings. But from colonial times through the days of apartheid, Black people in South Africa were required to have an English or European name as well” (Noah, 281). This demonstrates how the rights of Black people were stripped away from them as they had to abide by the rulings of the whites. Apartheid wasn’t just segregation, but it was also dehumanization and degradation of people of color. Noah also explains in his memoir that apartheid wanted to wipe out all Black people from South Africa. He explains that, “The ultimate goal of apartheid was to make South Africa a white country, with every black person stripped of his or her citizenship and relocated to live in the homelands” (Noah, 39). This demonstrates the harshness of apartheid and their belief in white supremacy and how the government treated Black people so poorly just so they could reach their ultimate goal.
Although the government was very powerful, South Africans still opposed apartheid. Black groups, with the help of some whites, held strikes, civil disobedience campaigns, and boycotts. The South African government responded to the riots with violence and suppression. They killed and arrested many unarmed protesters for rebelling against the government. Nelson Mandela was an important leader in the struggle for equality. He was a Black nationalist who fought against the government and apartheid. After efforts of non-violent protests failed, Mandela formed an armed resistance group known as Umkhonto weSizwe or the Spear of the Nation. He believed that violence was the only way to end this struggle. He spent a long 17 months trying to gain support in the fight for equality, but he was arrested in 1962. He was sentenced to life in prison but was let out after 27 years. Conditions in the prison were very poor because of the color of one’s skin. Black prisoners were denied their rights, and political prisoners had the worst treatment of all. Some prisoners were harassed and tortured by guards. Mandela and the other protesters were forced to do hard labor like breaking rocks in a lime quarry. Mandela didn’t stop fighting even though he was imprisoned. He advocated for better conditions in prisons for all races. Because of him, Black prisoners gained more rights, and the conditions in prisons improved. Mandela was determined to gain freedom for his people, so in 1986 he began to contact the South African government to see if he could negotiate to end apartheid. South Africa faced serious economic troubles since countries around the world did not agree with the laws and regulations of apartheid. “The United Nations General Assembly denounced apartheid in 1973”. Because of this and other international pressures, Mandela was able to negotiate with the government to release him from prison and release the people of South Africa from this horrid regime known as apartheid. Nelson Mandela then became South Africa’s first democratically elected president. He devoted the rest of his life to picking up the pieces and transforming the country after apartheid. He fought hard for the freedom of his people.
Trevor Noah was only a young kid when Mandela was released, but his mother lived a whole life under the laws of apartheid. She never backed down or accepted the laws and segregation; she fought against it and taught Noah that the world is much more than oppression. Noah explains in his memoir that, “I was nearly six when Mandela was released, ten before democracy finally came, yet she was preparing me to live a life of freedom long before we knew freedom would exist” (Noah, 116). Noah’s mother Patricia taught him to chase his dreams and that he could do whatever he set his mind to regardless of his race. She never wanted him to think that he was stuck where he was because of the laws of apartheid. Mandela had the same mindset. He always believed that he could gain freedom for his people, and that is exactly what he did. He didn’t see his race as a setback; he saw it as motivation to gain a free life for his country.
Click here to watch and learn more about Nelson Mandela's life, his upbringing, and his role in ending apartheid, and click here for more information on what apartheid was, and this history of it.
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