The Establishment of Apartheid

Apartheid was a system of separation of the races both politically and socially in South Africa in the second half of the twentieth century. This system was said to be one of the last examples of institutionalized racism, and has been almost universally criticized. These Apartheid rules and restrictions were put in place by the National Party which had power over South Africa during this time period. The purpose of Apartheid legislation was to bring the Afrikaner ethnic group to a higher power in South Africa, and accomplished just that. The Afrikaner group was made up of descendants from Dutch colonists who settled in South Africa in order to make a refreshment station, a sort of rest stop, for the Dutch East India Company. The longer people stayed in Africa, the more they started to associate with it as their home. With the enslavement of many Africans, it is easy to see how these Afrikaners would associate themselves as above them and would feel entitled to power over them. This entitlement it how Apartheid rules were born.

The Afrikaner ethnic group is an odd one looking at them from a glance. A predominantly white ethnicity, originating in South Africa, which speaks a form of German. This oddity was created by the Dutch East India Company, a side effect of one of their ventures. The Dutch East India Company was opening trade with the Asiatic countries; however a straight trip there would most likely result in many deaths on the sea from the length of the trip, and the poor conditions that occur. What was needed was a refreshment station. A refreshment station was a place that ships could dock at and allow their sailors to rest at. Generally fresh fruit would be kept at these stations, and many other foods would be grown so ...

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...w its power from its strong appeal to the Afrikaner race. The Afrikaners had once thrived, and the British had taken that power from them. Now that they had declared independence from Britain, the British politicians stood no chance against the aggression of a race of people feeling put down. This strong racial identity that stood with the party naturally shifted; after escaping the trenches of powerlessness the national party had to continue on the route of being supreme, as any political party does. This becomes a problem because having a strong racial identity is one thing, but when using it to gain power it becomes your race against all other races. The strive for dominance in power and politics drove the National Party to put down non-white people in the population, and eventually enact pro-white legislation, specifically the Apartheid rules and regulations.