Role Of Apartheid In South Africa

Apartheid was an official barrier which separated the different races in South Africa, namely the black South Africans and the white Afrikaans South Africans. Although Apartheid ended 20 years ago when Nelson Mandela was elected president, Apartheid still plays a large role in South African History. Apartheid began long before it was officially named Apartheid in 1948 by the leading political party, National Party. The separation between the black and white people of South Africa began around the time Jan Van Riebeek arrived in the Cape in 1652. Since then the segregation escalated due to events which caused hatred between the two races.
Apartheid began because the two races had very different views on living; Afrikaners began to believe that they were superior to the black people in South Africa. Due to the Afrikaans perspective, Afrikaans nationalism was enhanced because they thoroughly believed that the segregation had to take place because God wanted to set the Boer Nation apart. Afrikaners even believed that they were direct decedents of the Israeli Nation, in other words “the chosen nation of God”.
The Afrikaans nation had faced a brutal war in the late 1800s against a British regime who were interested in South Africa because the country was rich in diamonds. However, the …show more content…
Throughout the years of Afrikanerdom, setting themselves apart from other ‘cultures’ or ‘religions’ because of their own religion or calling became the foundation of their Nationalism. The Afrikaners thought they were better than the native South Africans because they did not want anyone to stand up against them at any given point. I do however believe that the idea of Apartheid became more than just self-determination I think the Afrikaners got so caught up in being nationalized that they neglected the idea of unity in one country, South