South Africa is a country with people of many different skin colours. South Africa has black and white people, Indians and people of mixed race. In the past, the government tried to keep them separate. This was very unfair.
At the end of this lesson:
At the end of this lesson:
- You can tell what apartheid was and who suffered from it
- You can show what apartheid looked like and why it was so unfair
- You can give your opinion about black and white people living in poverty
The era of South African apartheid Have you ever heard from the term ‘South African apartheid’? This is what the law to keep people of different races apartheid has been popularly called over the past fifty years. This law of ‘racial segregation’ tried to keep people of different races apart and was the case between 1948 andd 1994. This meant that people of different races could marry or live together happily. There was a lot of resistance against this system, for example there were strikes, protests, non-violent demonstration and armed resistance. Apartheid was eventually abolished. How black people were treated with inequality In 1948, the parliament had just white people. The white people were Dutch settlers who came to South Africa a few ages before. In 1970, they even prohibited non-white people to have a say in the government, this made the white party to be politically superior. The blacks were deprived and most of the services, like health care, education, transport and housing offered to them were inferior. For example, the government created townships for them to live in. The conditions there were bad. One of these places is called Soweto, it is largely known across the world and South Africa. Uprisings and protests Many people were against this unequal system. Many uprisings and protests started small but they eventually turned into fully developed protests across the whole country. The government tried to stop these protests violently; for example, they mercilessly allowed their dogs to bite the protesters or they used weapons. Many anti-government leaders were imprisoned. How black women were treated Black South African women suffered more because they had to endure both gender and racial discrimination. They could not have an education or own a house. This way, it was hard for them to find decent jobs. They mainly worked as housemaids for the rich whites and received meager wages or sometimes even worked as slaves. This made women less equal and have the lowest place in social status. The end of apartheid Anti-apartheid protests grew and the whole country was mobilised to fight against it. Even youth participated. There was a black political party called the ANC that led this, they even used military action. Secondary school children died because they were in the protests. Western countries (countries in Europe and America, who also had largely white governments) thought this apartheid was really bad and put the South African government under pressure to end it. When Nelson Mandela was elected, it finally did. Adapted from: http://buzzsouthafrica.com/south-african-apartheid/ |
Step 1: Have a look at this image. Tell your classmate how you would feel if you saw this in your country.
Step 2: Read the text on the left. Step 3: click on the picture below to study your words
Step 4: take the exercises and quiz on blendspace
Step 5: watch the video about poor white South Africans below, answer the questions.
After this you will be ready for your final task Final task: In your final exercise, you are going to post a photo on Facebook that shows life in Apartheid South Africa or life in Post-apartheid South Africa. For life in Apartheid South Africa, you can pick a photograph from this webpage: http://www.citylab.com/politics/2013/12/life-apartheid-era-south-africa/7821/ If you want to show something of life in post-apartheid South Africa, you will have to find it yourself. Write a caption of between 50 and 75 words in which you - describe what happens - explain how it happens - explain why you think this shows how poverty and apartheid/post-apartheid are related |