GEOG 1000 Lecture Notes - Lecture 35: Soweto Uprising, White Supremacy
6 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
GEOG 1000
February 26, 2018
Apartheid
From Colonialism to Decolonization
● Colonialism continued in southern Africa
● The creation of wealth through the creation of poverty.
● South Africa was the first African country to be colonized
● Majority indigenous Africans living there, but also very diverse
● “Coloured people” mixed race
● White supremacist government, multicultural society
● Apartheid modeled from Canada systems to oppress indigenous
● Dutch national society developed this brutal system of segregation
● Official policy 1948 - 1994
○ To create races and to divide these so called races
● Apartheid was a system imposed on multiple scales
○ “Petty Apartheid” to keep physical bodies separate (separate busses,
graveyards, schools, pools, washrooms, etc.)
○ Social but also legal project: prohibition of mixed marriages act
○ “Grand Apartheid” cities divided into residential areas by race. Became a legal
system of segregation
○ Whites were given the most valuable area, Indians and Coloured given
sub-standard areas
○ Blacks were forced to live on outskirts (townships)
○ Exception: if you were black but living in a white house, you could live as an
employee not a family member
○ Imposed a system of surveillance to prevent the resistance of violence
○ 4 million people were forced to leave their homes
● “Even Grander Apartheid”
○ Creation of Bantustans / Homelands
○ More than half of the population was forced into the worst 13% of land
○ In these homelands, there was a theory that there would be separate
development, yet there was very little development due to minimal resources
○ South African government used different scales to impose segregation
○ Shanty - towns
What did Apartheid achieve?
● They would create a better society through separation
● Dispossession and exploitation
● Led the descendants of Europeans to become powerful and wealthy
● Created a racially divided and economically divided society. Caused extensive
suffering
● About class as well as race
● Created concept of race in a particular way, exploited minor differences in physical
features to accomplish exploitation and reinforce racial difference
Document Summary
The creation of wealth through the creation of poverty. South africa was the first african country to be colonized. Majority indigenous africans living there, but also very diverse. Apartheid modeled from canada systems to oppress indigenous. Dutch national society developed this brutal system of segregation. To create races and to divide these so called races. Apartheid was a system imposed on multiple scales. Petty apartheid to keep physical bodies separate (separate busses, graveyards, schools, pools, washrooms, etc. ) Social but also legal project: prohibition of mixed marriages act. Grand apartheid cities divided into residential areas by race. Whites were given the most valuable area, indians and coloured given sub-standard areas. Blacks were forced to live on outskirts (townships) Exception: if you were black but living in a white house, you could live as an employee not a family member. Imposed a system of surveillance to prevent the resistance of violence. 4 million people were forced to leave their homes.
