Apartheid was the system of complete segregation between whites and blacks. It is the most extreme form of segregation. Not only did the blacks have to use different bathrooms and go to different schools than whites, as they did in the United States, they were also forced to live in run down ghettos and they were, for the most part, only allowed to have menial jobs which paid very little. Mathabane illustrates this point by describing the jobs of his parents and other blacks that he knows. His grandmother, for instance, is a gardener for

The most powerful tool by far that the whites used against the blacks, was the fact that they were all of different tribes and used different languages. South Africa was formed by whites when they colonized the continent, and they did not pay any attention to what tribes were in what countries. Many of these groups had been enemies for years before the white men ever even came to Africa. When you look at the ratio of whites to blacks to in South Africa it is impossible to imagine how the whites kept control of such a huge majority with such a small minority. When you think of it strictly in terms of white vs. black it seems impossible that they could keep control. But when the issue is examined closer, you can see how the whites pitted the blacks against one another, using their own ancestry against them. It was as if each tribe were a different race almost. Blacks of different tribes were forced to go to different schools, and all of the schools taught in different languages. This created a language barrier that divided the blacks into different groups who could not communicate well with one another. Another division was the tribal reserve blacks and the urban blacks. The whites hired the blacks from the tribal reserves as policemen because of their deep rooted hatred of the blacks living in cities. The black police men were often the most brutal of them all. Whites also paid blacks in the townships to act as spies. This caused great distrust among the blacks in the ghettos. It would have been nearly impossible to organize all of the blacks of South Africa into one force against the whites. The language barrier, the cultural differences, and the spies reporting back to white leaders all made this task impossible.

a rich white family. His mother did not get a job until Mark started school and she needed to help pay school expenses. She was unable to get a work permit so she had to find a job within Alexandria. She finally found one as the housekeeper of an Indian family.

Mark Mathabane successfully opened my eyes to the world of Apartheid in South Africa. By giving his first hand account of growing up in South Africa I am now able to see how the whites kept control over the blacks for such a long time. From physical intimidation, to psychological divisions, the whites kept a firm grip on the control of the c

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