Apartheid in South Africa

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Nelson Mandela helped bring an end to Apartheid in South Africa because he was a believer in basic human rights, leading both peaceful and violent protests against the white South African Government. His beliefs landed him in prison for twenty-seven years, almost three decades. In doing so, he became the face of the apartheid movement both in his country and around the world. When released from prison in 1990, he continued to honor his commitment to fight for justice and equality for all people in South Africa. In 1994, Nelson Mandela was elected to become the first black president of South Africa and formed a government that represented the people of South Africa.
What was Apartheid? Apartheid was when people were segregated into different groups: White, Black, Indian, and Colored, as a government policy. In the South African language apartheid means separateness. In 1958 Blacks were deprived of their citizenship. There were separate schools, buses, shops and hospitals for blacks and colored people and the services available were well under the standard provided for the white people. Even laws were different. Apartheid touched every part of social life, including a prevention of marriage between non-whites and whites, and the sanctioning of "white-only" jobs. This spiraled out of control under Dr. Daniel Malan when he became Prime Minister because the Afrikaans (white South Africans) were worried black people had started taking over skilled and semi-skilled jobs and black workers were moving into the cities/towns and staying. Many didn’t know what apartheid meant but they did know it kept the white people separate from the black people.
Life during apartheid was difficult. During this time The National Party kept making ne...

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...is country was free. This finally happened in 1990 with the ending of apartheid.
In conclusion, Nelson Mandela devoted his life to the freedom of his people with little regret for the personal sacrifices he made. Nelson Mandela was determined to bring a better life to the people of South Africa. Amazingly he was able to preserve, bring justice to his people and put the healing of his nation in front of any bitterness he might feel towards the people that had treated the majority of the South African community with disrespect and cruelty. He believed ALL people should be given and basic human rights and encouraged his country to heal, not to hate.

Works Cited

https://sites.google.com/site/apartheidkludt102/b http://www.slideshare.net/jmvrudny/apartheid-an-introduction-for-children http://www.nelsonmandelas.com/apartheid.php
http://www.history.com/topics/apartheid

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