{"id":13072,"date":"2017-06-08T23:47:31","date_gmt":"2017-06-09T06:47:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=13072"},"modified":"2017-06-08T23:58:08","modified_gmt":"2017-06-09T06:58:08","slug":"mom-what-is-an-apartheid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/mom-what-is-an-apartheid\/","title":{"rendered":"Mom what is an Apartheid?"},"content":{"rendered":"

“For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.”[1]<\/i><\/p>\n

– Nelson Mandela<\/i><\/p>\n

In 1988, I remember sitting with my parents as we watched a concert with celebrities and singers such as Whoopi Goldberg, Whitney Houston, Tracy Chapman, Stevie Wonder, etc. all sing in support of a man by the name of Nelson Mandela. I didn’t quite understand the significance of this event but I could feel the energy through the TV as people would speak about freedom and something called “Apartheid”. The memory that continues to play in my head is when all of the singers and celebrities came together and sand a song that said “Free Mandela”. It was a catchy tune. My brother and I would sing it around the house not knowing fully why the song was created. I can recall asking my mom “why is this man in jail?” and “what is Apartheid?”. It wasn’t until a few years later that I was reminded of what was taking place in South Africa when I saw Nelson Mandela released from jail on national television. He had spent a long 27 years in jail for his leadership and contribution to the plan of\u00a0over throughing \u00a0the rule of the National Party who instituted the Apartheid in his country. He stated “I do not deny that I planned sabotage. I did not plan it in a spirit of recklessness nor because I have any love of violence. I planned it as a result of a calm and sober assessment of the political situation that had arisen after many years of tyranny, exploitation and oppression of my people by the whites<\/em>“[2]. Within the next four years, more monumental events took place–the constitutional changes , the political shift and election of Nelson Mandela as President. From 1988 to 2013, I had a fond admiration for the work and dedication of Nelson Mandela. However, up until now I had not had a full grasp\u00a0of the historical context, political climate and \u00a0racial tension that existed in South Africa.<\/p>\n

Let’s fast forward to 2017. This fall I have an opportunity to go to Cape Town, South Africa. \u00a0Who would have known that as a child, while I only witnessed glimpses of the struggles that occured during the fall\u00a0of the Apartheid, I now\u00a0have an opportunity to see the aftermath and impacts the Apartheid has had on the country and culture. During this term we have been\u00a0reading books that cause us to reflect on the cross cultural life and experience of those who live within the continent of Africa. This week we read the book\u00a0The Rise and Fall of Apartheid\u00a0<\/em>by David Welsh. From 1948 until 1994 the country was governed by Apartheid system. \u00a0Welsh\u00a0discusses the Apartheid in three timeboxes:[3]<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. 1948-1959 – The National Party had taken power in 1948. From the onset they had instituted legislation that reinforced the expansion of racial segregation in the country.<\/li>\n
  2. 1959-1966 – \u00a0Bantustans were established.\u00a0The government\u00a0forced racial segregation within the distrubution and habitation of the land. Non white \u00a0africans were forced out of their homes and land. Their land was sold to white farmers at a low cost. In short, this caused them to be displaced and forced to dispurse and live in \u00a0government\u00a0specified areas.<\/li>\n
  3. 1966-1994- This is the time where the political climate began to shift. There was an increase in support for the current NP leadership but also there was an increase in protest and strength within the African National Congress (ANC). As a result, this began the fall of apartheid.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    However, it is important to state that racial segregation began long before the Apartheid. In 1659, \u00a0Govenor van Riebeeck had mandated fences be set up to divide the white and black africans in Cape Town. In 1913, the Natives Land Act made it so that\u00a0Africans could only own land in reserves. This legislation also reinforced preferential treatment and placement of whites in specific job fields. The legislation passed by the National Party in 1948 only formally institutionalized\u00a0\u00a0the current existence of racial segration.<\/p>\n

    There is no one historical occurence that lead to the beginning of the Apartheid or its demise.\u00a0Within his book, Welsh discusses topics such as the significance of international sanctions, the significance of the work of Nelson Mandela, the impact of the church and the various affliate organizations influence during the Apartheid. Overall, this \u00a0book gives a sobering account and political analysis of the impacts of the Apartheid on South Africa and the world.<\/p>\n

    I am looking forward to our trip this fall. I hope that it will be both enlightening and challenging. \u00a0A side note, \u00a0as we are nearing the end of our first year in this program, I found one of Nelson Mandela’s quotes so befitting to my journey so far “It always seems impossible until it’s done<\/em>.” \u00a0So TRUE!<\/p>\n

    [1] “Nelson Mandela Quotes,” BrainyQuote, , accessed June 08, 2017, \u00a0https:\/\/www.brainyquote.com\/quotes\/quotes\/n\/nelsonmand447252.html.<\/p>\n

    [2] Ibid.<\/p>\n

    [3]\u00a0David Brokensha, “The Rise and Fall of Apartheid ,” Journal of International and Global Studies<\/i>, 2009,146 , accessed June 8, 2017, http:\/\/www.lindenwood.edu\/files\/resources\/146-148-2.pdf.<\/p>\n

    [4]\u00a0“Nelson Mandela Quotes,” BrainyQuote, , accessed June 08, 2017,https:\/\/www.brainyquote.com\/quotes\/quotes\/n\/nelsonmand378967.html<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    “For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.”[1] – Nelson Mandela In 1988, I remember sitting with my parents as we watched a concert with celebrities and singers such as Whoopi Goldberg, Whitney Houston, Tracy Chapman, Stevie […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":82,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[974],"class_list":["post-13072","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-welsh","cohort-lgp7"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13072","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/82"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13072"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13072\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13310,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13072\/revisions\/13310"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13072"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13072"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}