Apartheid: Extreme Raceism

Both the British and the Dutch colonized South Africa in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Immediately, racial sanctions were set up to ensure the purity of the white race just as they were in most other colonies. Peace ended when the English invaded the Dutch lands in pursu

Loosely translated, Apartheid means “apart or separateness,” however the Afrikaners invented it as a way to maintain white domination, and to control the economic and social systems as fully as possible. The 1940s and 1950s marked a time when the Afrikaner government passed various acts, and allowed unjust laws to be carried out. They were met by peaceful demonstrations, and smaller riots during this time, eventually resulting in even stricter sanctions.

The Population Registration Act of 1950 further segregated the population as three racial categories were outlined: white, black, and colored. These divisions were made based mainly on appearance, but social acceptance and descent were also taken into account. If a child had any trace of blackness to him or her, then they were automatically classified as black. However, some colored people who were accepted by society and who looked white could be considered white. The colored included groups such as Asians and Indians.

On March 20, 1960 thousands of men, women, and children marched on a police station in Sharpeville resulting in a horrendous repression. Three hundred police officers came to the scene, and ordered planes to buzz the crowd. Many were frightened away by the planes, and many more were sent running when tear gas was thrown in their directions. As the crowd dispersed, the police open fired killing 69 people, most of whom were shot in the back. Two hundred others were wounded. The Sharpeville Massacre marked a turning point in the Anti-Apartheid Movement as the government declared a state of war on those who resisted their laws (Pomeroy, 168).

Abram Fischer was a white man who quickly became known as a traitor to the South African government. He graduated from Oxford University, and was a known Communist. He affiliated himself with this party because, he claimed, it was the only party to consistently oppose white supremacy. In the 1960s, Communism became illegal in South Africa and he was arrested in 1964 along with 12 other white men and women for their ties with the Communist Party. He was released from prison and went underground in 1965 to work with the Spear of the Nation. Fischer concentrated his efforts on recruiting more white men to the cause for equality, but that year, on November 11th, he was arrested once again for treason and sentenced to life in prison.

Pomeroy, William J. Apartheid, Imperialism, and African Freedom. International Publishers, Co., Inc., New York. 1986,

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