Cry, the Beloved Country

In the 17th-18th centuries, the Dutch and British Empire colonized South Africa. Due to colonization, South Africa has a large population of British and Afrikaners, people related to Dutch colonizers. Because of this history, South Africa experienced years of racial tension, discrimination against the Indigenous population, and eventually an era of apartheid. Apartheid, the Afrikaans word for “separateness,” is a government-instituted system of racial segregation. The apartheid in South Africa lasted from 1948 to 1994. Before the implementation of apartheid, the government passed several laws in the beginning of the 20th century to restrict Black South African citizens. These policies restricted citizens to certain areas and prevented them from serving in government. White South African citizens mainly hired Black South African citizens for hard labor, such as working in mines. South Africa’s economy is based on gold, but white South African citizens refused to pay workers a fair wage.

Segregation increased until the National Party took power in 1948 and legalized apartheid. The National Party was an Afrikaner white nationalist party that believed in white supremacy. Apartheid caused unrest in the country as many groups protested, leading to instances of police brutality and massive arrests of people of color. Several laws under apartheid revolved around banning interracial marriage, setting curfews, and preventing Black South African citizens from buying land in white areas.