Rasicm

            Racism and racial prejudice have been plagues which have hindered the growth of human society.
             and the human spirit for thousands of years. The ways people have acted and reacted to these.
             racial injustices however, has varied. Numerous events of political racism have taken place in the.
             past, including enslavement of Africans by the Romans, black slavery in America, the.
             mistreatment of aboriginals in various countries, European colonialism in the late nineteenth and.
             early twentieth centuries, and countless others. Recently, however, this kind of racism has died.
             down. In the past century, organized, political racism has given way to a more subtle, individual.
             form of racism. Recent events which depict this movement are the solutions to the following.
             racial conflicts: apartheid in South Africa, the American civil rights movement, and the treatment.
             of aboriginals in Canada.
             One of the most intriguing, and publicized events of racism in the past century has been the.
             South African policy of apartheid, (the Afrikaans term for separateness). This political policy.
             was put into place in 1948 with the election of the South African national party and lasted almost.
             a half-century until its demise in the early 1990's. Apartheid called for the separation of whites,.
             blacks, people of mixed race, and Asians in all political and social institutions. This was a system.
             put forth by the whites to keep their economic and political superiority over the blacks. The.
             whites, as was intended, were the major benefactors of this system, as the system stated that they.
             must own the vast majority of the land and that the South African federal government consist of.
             only whites, therefore making all political decisions pro-white. Blacks were forced to carry.
             special identification "pass books" which contained the person's fingerprints, access to non-.
             white land, and other information. Any black resistance to this system was treated harshly.