Why are Americans so quick to point fingers at white South Africans for apartheid?

Question

when we merely separated ethnic groups whilst the Americans on the other hand slaughtered millions of red Indians, stole whole states from the Mexicans and Spanish and were the last Western nation to abolish slavery?
Surely theres a bit of hypocrisy going on??

PS - This question is not another apartheid debate. We accept there were many evils in apartheid.

It is truly hilarious to see all the American answers, so full of rationalisations and to be blunt, bullshit.
I can guarentee all users that Americans have always and will always only care for themselves, if they had not slaughtered all the native Indians, apartheid would be alive and well in the good old USA, this time to separate whites and Indians.
A further note : apartheid is openly practised in America, its just not official, why else do you get ghetos and black neighbourhoods?
Stop always preaching your liberal crap and look at your own faults for once.

Answer 1

Mmmm...this is an interesting question for me, having lived in both places extensively.
Too much emotion - from both sides - in these answers.

First off, we live in the 21st century, so there is no 'we' and 'they'. The events in America that are described took place over a century ago. No one alive today is responsible for them. The events described in South Africa happened a generation ago. An entire generation never suffered from, nor inflicted apartheid.
The American Indians brought about their own demise - they were primitive savages that couldn't adapt quickly enough to a rapidly changing continent. And no, America did not 'belong' to them because they were here first, any more than South Africa 'belongs' to blacks.
No states were stolen from anyone. America fought wars with Mexico and won. End of story.

'Wanda' is wrong (as usual), the civil war was not fought over economics ie; 'they had to feed and clothe slaves', it was fought because the South wanted to secede from the North, and Lincoln was determined to keep the Union together.
Before you post ignorant bullsh*t, do some research first.

On the issue of Capital punishment - damn right America has not abolished it, nor should we. If you're going to indiscriminately take someone else's life, you have to put your life on the table. An eye for an eye.
Funny, I remember reading some questions from others on this forum begging for the death penalty to be brought back in South Africa.
And no, racial tensions are not 'explosive' in Southern states. That train of thought comes from watching too many movies.

On the other hand, I completely agree with your point of view that Americans love to point fingers and interfere. It was that finger-pointing (done to assuage their guilt over how blacks were treated in times past over here) and interfering that led to the Marxist government you have now.
There's a LOT of hypocrisy in that.

By the way, there are black neighborhoods over here because blacks congregate together - it's their choice, but even that's changing. Harlem, for example, has experienced a total renaissance since the 90's, and is now racially mixed.

P.S. On the issue of slavery - it's been over a century since it was abolished in the West, however, it's still alive and well in African countries like Sudan, where blacks buy and sell one another.
Let's make an issue of that, shall we. Oh no, what am I thinking, there are no white people involved.

Answer 2

Because apartheid occurred/continued so late into the modern age, that's why. Slavery had been abolished, and US expansionism and colonial expansionism by the other major European powers had long since ended.

Officially, apartheid was enacted in 1948. This was after the end of World War II and the establishment of the United Nations...freedom and equality were the buzzwords. The world, other than those nations behind the Iron and Bamboo Curtains, was supposed to be enlightened and apartheid was an embodiment of old, repressive doctrines.

South Africa, being the descendants of European nations, and allies of the West, was supposed to be as enlightened as the rest of the West, and this appeared to be a direct contradiction to this enlightenment.

Hypocrisy? How would it be hypocrisy? The events that you speak of occurred almost a hundred years in the past, which to a nation not quite two hundred years old, was a long time. The counterpoint to your charge of hypocrisy would be that the US had learned that the methods used by the apartheid government did not work, was repressive and unforgivably unjust.

Just because your parents or grandparents did something that was acceptable then doesn't mean you get a free pass to do the same...times change, acceptability changes.

Even if they did something that was unacceptable, it still does not justify you doing the same, nor does it preclude them from telling you that what they did was not cool, and you should not do it. This is not hypocrisy, it is them trying to get you to avoid doing stupid things they did.

Answer 3

It is because apartheid was more recent than slavery and all of the bad stuff that happened against Mexico and the Indians. There are photographs, newsreels and a whole generation of people who remember apartheid firsthand. Slavery, and the Americans wiping out the Indians and Mexicans, happened 150 years ago so nobody remembers it firsthand. I agree that what the Americans did was horrendous, and with the technology available today (television, Internet, relatively inexpensive digital cameras, etc...) it would be harder for such atrocities to happen. Although I'm amazed at what other stuff is still happening - famine and wars in other parts of the world that is not covered in the media (at least here in the United States). There are still massive human rights abuses in other parts of the world, like someone mentioned in Sudan but also in other parts of Africa and Asia and the Middle East. I'm also ashamed at some of the stuff going on by our own government like the whole Iraq war and how awfully our president has bungled foreign policy and diplomacy . And also, granted I'm not South African and am not old enough to know exactly what was going on during apartheid (I'm not quite 26), it does sound like it was a little bit worse than just separating ethnic groups. It sounds like whites got better access to all kinds of stuff than non-whites.

I did read Nelson Mandela's autobiography and it sounds like from that and other stuff I have read that SA is really now a wonderful place. I am dying to visit, especially Cape Town. I also love South African wine, and the accents are so pretty. And so is Charlize Theron. Wow, if only she had kept her South African accent....

Answer 4

What I find so interesting is the simple fact that America is a Country that was established by Immigrants. All of them leaving their own Countries. At no time in history was their ever a mass exodus from the rest of the world. Just to come to this new Country. And yet the ignorance of people like you never cease to amaze me. first off lets consider the fact that the, "Americans" you speak of were slaughtering the Native Americans were the French and English coming out of the Northern territories. The other, "Americans" were the Spanish who were slaughtering them from the South. After they pillaged and plundered all the natives of South America. Wiping out entire civilizations of Inca's and Mayan Indians.
As for the Mexicans, they were at war with the Native Americans far longer then the, Americans you seem to know so much about. What I love the most is your remark about America being the last Western Country to abolish slavery. What makes that the most interesting is the fact that the one Country that stood to loose the most was the Territories of South Africa. Seems they were the largest suppliers of black slaves. Seems, "You guys" had a lot to lose with all the money you were making keeping the slave trade alive and well for over 300 hundred years. Supplying slaves to Europe and the Middle East as well as the Americas. But don't worry I wont bring up how the whites treat the blacks in your Country. When was the law abolished for blacks to vote in South Africa? 1984-85? Hum. Isn't that a hundred years after Lincoln abolished slavery here?
As an American I will be the first to say our Country has more faults then most others. I guess its hard to help your own people when every country in the world is crying for our help. And we have to drop what we are doing to bail them out. At the cost of our blood being spilt for your problems.
But who are we to *****. I guess the words of Colin Powell say it best; "If you are trying to gage America for all its problems, I guess you have to look at how many people are trying to leave America as compared to how many people are trying to get in."

Answer 5

This stuff happened about a hundred years ago, when apartheid was happening just a few years ago. People in glass houses should not throw stones.
Whites have been exploiting people of other ethnic groups for years, since time began, so it is not just Americans, but those all over the world at all points in time. They have also supplied the weapons to keep confusion going in the 3rd world countries. So please check your history before just accusing. Who made you God to judge. Are you yourself with out sin or prejudice? If you are throw all the stones you want. If you are not, then find something else to argue about.

Answer 6

Interesting. I currently live in the U.S and am always amazed by how little Americans actually know about the rest of the world. Their media is extremely limited, For example Every news station reported on Anna Nicoles death for about 4 hours everday for about two weeks, where as only 60 seconds is dedicated to world news about once a week.(Exept BBC)
Americans also have very limited rights on "Freedom of speech" , Every thing is sooooo Politically correct it makes me sick ie -No "Merry Christmas" , it has to be "Happy Holidays", Black /coloured people are called "people of colour" (What?)etc etc.
On the whole Americans have very limited info on any other countries and they are quick to react on the little info they do have. I was asked recently if South Africa has Malls or Hotels for goodness sake. Another more amusing question was "are you from the South?" Ha-Ha, yes lady VERY Far South!!!Any way i think Americans should stick to there own columns and leave ours alone.

Answer 7

Separate ethnic groups? Black South Africans were not given the same rights as the whites. To treat them as such is just wrong. The US did treat certain groups extremely poorly. They also recognized that and changed. It would only be hypocrisy if US policy was STILL that of unequal treatment.

Answer 8

dear kind asker !!!!
I say you post this same question on travel/USA.
I think you are going to see some interesting answers there, not here.
i wish people will stop trashing a nation like America.
even when you want to talk history, lets be real please.
same way you are proud of your country, so as we.
Do you suggest that we give our country back to Spain, Red Indians or what ... !!!
I really would love to know.

Answer 9

Why are you so quick to judge and stereotype all "Americans"? I'm American, and I don't think that way, nor do I know any Americans who do. Can you supply some evidence or proof, credible statistics, to support your claim? Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.

------- updated after you added info

You didn't answer my questions. You had an opportunity, but you didn't take it. I think you're in over your head, but I'll give you another chance and check back later. Please, if you feel so deeply, use that energy to also examine yourself and your own motives. Waiting for answers....

Answer 10

Give Brad the 10 points. The only thing I would add to it is that it is not just Americans. It is a fashionable thing in the West to be a politically correct liberal and that means making excuses for all the minority groups and Blacks in the hope that it will absolve White guilt. Wanda you need to research slavery a bit more and you will find that Africans were the biggest of the slave traders and it was not a Whites only thing. As for the death penalty my opinion is that South Africa is not advanced enough as a civilisation to consider not having the death penalty. It took the UK until 1957 to abolish hanging and the African continent has a long way to go before it reaches that level of civilisation.