I've been hearing this word ALL day, and I want to know what it means. No one will tell me.
2006-09-12 10:17:00 · 13 answers · asked by Anonymous in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
Definition:
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=APARTHEID&x=32&y=9
2006-09-12 10:18:13 · answer #1 · answered by Serious Mandy 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Apartheid (literally "apartness" in Afrikaans and Dutch) was a system of racial segregation that was enforced in South Africa from 1948 to 1994. Under apartheid, people were legally classified into a racial group - the main ones being White, Black, Indian and Coloured - and were geographically, and forcibly, separated from each other on the basis of the legal classification. The Black majority, in particular, legally became citizens of particular "homelands" that were nominally sovereign nations but operated more akin to United States "Indian Reservations" and Australian "Aboriginal Reserves." In reality, a majority of Black South Africans had never resided in these "homelands."
2006-09-12 10:18:41 · answer #2 · answered by ndtaya 6 · 5⤊ 0⤋
A national policy of separation of races. It was practiced in modern times by South Africa's minority white government.
2006-09-12 10:19:38 · answer #3 · answered by Jack 5 · 3⤊ 0⤋
A segregated political system: a political system in South Africa from 1948 to the early 1990s that separated the different peoples living there and gave particular privileges to those of European origin...
2006-09-12 10:19:30 · answer #4 · answered by Theophania 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
An official policy of racial segregation formerly practiced in the Republic of South Africa, involving political, legal, and economic discrimination against nonwhites.
2006-09-12 10:19:16 · answer #5 · answered by punkdrunkard 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Separate development, (of black people from white people in South Africa before Nelson Mandela became President).
2006-09-12 10:20:08 · answer #6 · answered by Argonautical 1 · 1⤊ 2⤋
It's a German (or Dutch) word meaning, literally, 'apartness'. It's applied (as maybe you know) specifically to a situation where two races are kept apart by law.
2006-09-12 10:20:28 · answer #7 · answered by Owlwings 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Segregation and moving to reservations of Africans in South Africa. Anything ever done to any minority in US history, all in one, focused on Africans.
2014-03-16 16:26:24 · answer #8 · answered by Dale 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
hi, i grew up under a government which practised APARTHEID, because i'm south african. most people are right, its a word originating from Dutch (from which Afrikaans - one of south africa's official languages originiates from in turn).
Its when people of different "ethnic groups" were seperated so as to divide and segregate and legally administer racial prejudice by means of seperate housing, seperate education, seperate marriages (yea, people of mixed races were not even allowed to marry) i'm mixed race because as fate would have it, people are people and can't help whom they fall in love with.
people had seperate places on buses, trains, even in the park there were benches which were classed as "white" and "non-white" so as to mark where people got to sit...weird huh... the sad thing is, it was only overturned (the racist government) in 1994 and the majority of people still have it in them to see other groups as "other". Black people now get the "best jobs" and a lot of whites are unemployed...under apartheid, the majority of the south african population were unemployed or in the lowest paid jobs possible (the workiing class black population made up about 70% plus of south africa's entire population) so the smaller minorities lived of the riches of the land (and it is extremely rich in natural resources such as gold, fresh produce, diamonds etc) so, the apartheid government built up a lot of debts cause sanctions were imposed against them from other first world countries and made trading near impossible...oh well, long story really, but they really came up with crazy things like, testing to see if a mixed race person ought to be white/black by virtue of hair type (whether it curled or not) and they (the apartheid government) gave "hand-me-downs" to mixed race people whilst blacks lived in abject poverty. the African National Congress who is in power now were forced to run underground operations because they were banned, they were called terrorists for wanting equality irrespective of race. Many whites have fled south africa not so much for fear of their lives but because they can no longer 'lord it over anyone else of a "lesser" colour'. I've met a number of them here in england and it makes me wanna puke when they try to chat to me, cause i know alot of them try to justify racism by saying God decided it was to be that way (i'm a Christian and find this abominable). if you know any white south africans, just put them to the test, if i'm wrong, i'll eat my shorts 99.9% of them are still racist but wont necessarily concede to it openly...
our country is a beautiful country, the apartheid govt has forced many poor people into a life of crime that would otherwise not have been the case, lots of disempowered youths who steal for a living...people dont know the inside story, some "professionals" have fled because they say the "new government" is responsible for the crime...sigh...
2006-09-12 13:37:48 · answer #9 · answered by Wisdom 4 · 3⤊ 0⤋
The legal separation of the blacks from the whites in South Africa.
2006-09-12 10:19:31 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋