Racism in South Africa Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Racism in South Africa - Essay Example In South Africa for instance, Apartheid, a racist system was introduced in the 1940s by the Nationalist Party (ICFTU, 1984). These comprised of a 4.5 million minority that ruled over 21.5 majority Blacks. They propelled the racist dominance through the establishment of untrammeled system of abnormal powers that affected every other aspect of life. Symbolically Apartheid was inclined towards separation, exploitation and domination of the Whites over the preconceived inferior Blacks. Apartheid defined individuals in any social setup by racial segregation and the formal designation of individuals basing on color. The oppression was however exercised in myriad ways: disenfranchising all, impoverishing most, relegating them to Bantu education and thus permanent economic inferiority, expelling millions from ancestral land, imprisoning hundreds of thousands, and killing many. The machinery of apartheid was supported by laws, which were passed by a sovereign parliament which had the power to pass any law it wished, however oppressive, the courts were powerless to challenge them except on narrow interpretation or administrative law grounds. In short, the legal system was doctored to suit the interest of racism. Race conceptualised as a constraining and external characteristic. According to Durkheim concept of social facts racism could be portrayed as a conditional external repressive system. Created by a minority of individuals in a society and racially imposed upon a majority of the society against their will. The evil that Jim Crow's system exercised upon the Afrikaans was subversive, barbaric and unwelcome and acted contrary to the free will. Practical constrains of racism are evident when segregation soared greater heights that determined of where people lived, whom they could marry, where their children went to school, what they were taught, whether they could be in a particular area (cities especially) without a pass, what swimming pool, library and restaurant they could use, and, of course, whether they could vote. Less formally, the situation was even worse: police brutality was legendary, civil rights in daily life virtually nonexistent, wage differentials immense, and women's household labor virtually domestic slavery (Marcuse, 1995). Consequently the fact that Apartheid was enforced in foreign languange implied that Africans had to be familiar with the same language in order to enhance their aggression and agitate for their basic human rights with one voice. The social fact of language certainly meant that it was difficult, to do otherwise. In broader aspect this could be seen as a constrain that limited the freedom of action to enhance a collective mass psychology to demand and to bring about changes. This constrain behavior imposed upon individuals against there will limited their inalienable rights to free will hence unable to make decisions. And also it was impossible to resist the dominant way of doing things because to change it would require widespread co-operation. This had detrimental effects upon their social well-being. How race has been used to maintain law & order in society. In South Africa ethnic or regional "intrawhite"