Give Us Hope, Jo’anna
With the sudden murder of Black American George Floyd in the hands of those policemen who arrested him for fraud, the “#BlackLivesMatter” movement that aims to address the long-time racism and police brutality being experienced not only by Black People but also other races in the USA, have sparked out once again and caused numbers of protests in any side of the country.
This conflict, however, does not only occur in the superpower nation but also in Africa — the continent where their ancestors came from. Coinciding to Nelson Mandela’s birthday this July 18, it is such a thing to reminiscence the battle of the nonwhite majority in the hell brought for 46 years by the nation’s reigning white supremacy-version of the caste system, the apartheid.
It was introduced by the National Party in 1948 after it won in that year’s general election. Though racial segregation already existed before that system was implemented, the leading white minority pushed to implement this policy that means “apartness,” believing that it will “boost” the economy as it greatly affected by the Great Depression and World War II.
With this, things have gotten a lot worse for the Blacks, mixed, and Indian residents– and it was euphoria for those who led the nation in the city of Johannesburg, South Africa’s economic powerhouse.
Under the policy of apartheid, “dictatorial” laws have been made to oppress those who are in another skin color. As the Population Registration Act of 1950, the center of South Africa’s “Caste System”, everyone at the age of 18 and above is required to have an identity card (ID) stating their racial classification to ‘properly’ segregate them from each other. The four classifications are namely: Bantu (Black Africans), Colored (mixed race), White, and then later on they added Asian (Indian and Pakistani).
By its bases, they were aiming to have a “better” community with a bountiful life as to what they claimed. However, this legislation destroyed instead many homes, separating members of families from each other since there are cases that parents can be identified in another category that their children do, particularly in interracial families.
Adding more to these hideous prescripts was the existence of the Reservation of Separate Amenities Act of 1955, where law placed municipal grounds as designated places for the whites and non-whites such as beaches, hospitals, schools, and other public places. “White Only” signs could be seen. The South African colors suffered, having little services of establishments.
To justify the act, in 1959, the Promotion of the Bantu Self-Government Act of 1959 was formed. Its main objective is to provide other colors aside from white their government to be ruled at, with their own rules and regulations. Except for it, it is also written in the law that black South Africans (Bantu) will be divided into 10 homelands or states, which is known as Bantustans, dividing them according to their language groups. Another law connected here was the Banty Authorities Act of 1951. Despite their “original” targets, the law was once again another Trojan Horse for the opposition, as it removed the power for white representatives of Black South Africans rights. Much worse is that eight years earlier before this, the Separate Representation of Voters Act of 1951 was established alongside it, prohibiting non-white people to vote.
For those who criticizing these wrongdoings, those who were sitting on the throne were not tolerant. To gag up those who are against the racial laws, they passed the Suppression of Communism Act of 1950, which describes shallowly the word “communism” and “communist”. Moreover, it is such ironic because, inside this act, it was specifically stated that communism disrupts racial harmony, which abled them to capture those who are not in favor in their opinion, while the white supremacy people, especially the authorities, are those who tear apart the harmony in the first place.
Even love has been set boundaries by apartheid. With the Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act of 1949 and Immorality Act of 1950, it was blocked by the government to have an interracial relationship and marriage and treated it as a criminal offense.
Not only those nonwhites burdened at the leaders’ selfish deeds, but also te ordinary white citizens when the Prevention of Illegal Squatting Act of 1951 was published as a law. By this rule, it allowed the government to demolish homes of Black people who are living in slums, then they will pass the obligation of finding and building a new relocation site mandatorily at their white employers.
Yet, things have suddenly changed in the late ’80s and early ’90s, when the world began to see the nightmare being experienced by non-whites in the hands of those entitled supremacies, as their control in national news and magazines had not worked anymore. The United Nations started to watch carefully every action of its powerhouse Johannesburg, embargoing the sale of arms to the nation. Big countries like the United Kingdom and the United States also placed sanctions on South Africa.
By all of this, then National Party government of Pieter Botha appeared to launch reforms at its constitutions, including the abolition of the laws above and allowing the interracial sex and marriage. Finally, by the year of 1989, he stepped down as the Prime Minister of South Africa and was succeeded by F.W. de Klerk who subsequently junked the terror Population Registration Act.
And what really gave light to everything is his freeing of Nelson Mandela from his 27 years of imprisonment. After that, he started to work as a government official to amend other laws dictating South African’s lives under apartheid. And finally, in 1994, Mandela made history as he proclaimed as the first Black President of South Africa, which later abolished the long-time apartheid.
That is how Johannesburg gave us hope from the #BLACKLIVESMATTER movement that is now happening in the USA, that we should be open-minded to be educated about issues like these, as not only our brothers and sisters in the other color is affected, but also us as a whole nation. Also, like a lesson from this city that was once manipulated its whole nation, we should determine the right leader that would treat us all, no matter what race, as a part of their home, and would respect each of our privileges.
Racism in South Africa may still be ongoing; however, 26 years after apartheid, people are a lot freer to express their voices about different matters to make decisions fair and square for everyone. To all of these tragedies, it teaches us to not be afraid at pointing out the wrongs of those who are in position for everyone to see and to make a change, as this is one of the keys to finally make the sun shine in the darkest days.
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