Group+6-+South+Africa

The apartheid is based off of racial descrimination based on laws made by the English and Dutch immigrants. Many laws are passed starting in 1948 that prevent Blacks or interatial families from doing many different things including jobs, beliefs, and even where you can or can't live. Even with more Black members populating the country, the white community clearly made more money and owned more land which was a large goal of the original laws. Many events occured up until the conclusion in 1990 where an all race election was held where Nelson Mandela won. In 1995 the Truth Reconciliation Committees began taking place. People who were convicted in killings of other people during the apartheids were able to apply for amnesty to get out of their full sentencing. Amnesty was not often granted because people needed a political motive along with telling the complete truth of their story. Many people opposed these Truth Committees and thought as if it allowed poeple to get out of trouble without any real punishment.
 * Brief History of the Apartheid **
 * TRC Example Trials **

//Long Nights Journey Into Day//is a documentary based on four stories that all involve the deaths of people in South America. Amy Biehl and "The Cradock 4" are two of the instances followed in which guilty people pleaded amnesty.

Amy Biehl was an anti apartheid activist who was a white women in South Africa trying to help out with the troubles of the apartheid. After driving a friend home on August 25th, 1993 Amy was attacked by four African American youths who threw rocks through her car window, pulled her out of the car, and repeatedly stabbed her to death. Amy was drawn to South Africa because of Nelson Mandel'a hope for national unity. Amy helped in underprivileged communities and was also involved with the voter registration in the pre "freedom day" elections. After serving four of the eighteen years in prison, Amy's murderers applied for amnesty within the TRC. Biehl's parents wanted to meet the four men, and were all for the TRC granting amnesty to them. The young men argued that the had thought that Amy was there to oppress the black South Americans. Along with their political reasoning, the men told the full truth and were granted amnesty. There now is an Amy Biehl foundation in Cape town where her parents have decided to start helping underprivledged communities get through tough times. "The Cradock 4" were four African Americans that were brutally beaten by the police. Two of the members that were attacked were leaders in an anti apartheid group, and were huge figured within the Cradock community. The officers argued that they were trying to protect the laws that they were given, and they found it their duty to make sure they be obeyed. This was a strong political argument, but the TRC found that the men hadn't been giving the full story which disallowed amnesty from being given. Family members of the Cradock 4 were not nearly as forgiving as Amy Biehl's family which is another huge factor on why amnesty was not given.

Apartheid Versus the Holocaust

South Africa has always been a region with racially motivated discrimination, but it wasn't until 1948 when the National Party came to power that all non white citizens were legally denied humanistic rights. Many people have compared South African Apartheid to the Holocaust. Some people even argue that Apartheid style government was influenced by Nazi era politics. Antisemitism in South Africa became more dominate in the 1930's and 40's, following the rise of Nazism in Germany. Many political leaders in South Africa were openly Nazis and used antisemitism as a part of their party platform. As antisemitism became more predominate in South Africa, one black South African leader stated "the ghost of Hitler is haunting South Africa."

As most people know, apartheid legislation mainly affected non white South Africans. Even before segregation was made legal, many black South Africans compared South Africa to Nazi Germany. On August 26, 1943 a manifesto produced by the All African Convention stated that "the life of a non European is very cheap in South Africa... As cheap as the life of a Jew in Nazi Germany."

There are also other similarities between the Holocaust and the Apartheid. Jews in Nazi occupied Germany were forced to wear the star of David to identify their "race" and their inferiority because of it. In South Africa, all people were forced to carry papers that indicated their race, however non whites were subject to discipline including jail time for not carrying their "race cards" with them at all times. Before the Jews were exterminated they were relocated to areas called Ghettos, while in South Africa, blacks were forcibly moved to areas known as townships. Many times they were removed without warning and their property was often stolen in the process.

Just as Nazis aimed for Aryan German purity, Apartheid government aspired for Afrikaner (descendents of Dutch settlers) purity and white supremacy. Immediately following the election of the National Party, 148 laws were passed that separated people based on their race. Apartheid government used public executions to put fear into people that considered rebelling and people were detained and tortured without trial.

=Legalization of the Apartheid =

The term apartheid, meaning apartness, was first coined in the 1930s. However, it was not until 1948 when the National Party of South Africa used the term as their political slogan. Similar to Nazi regime during the Holocaust, the Afrikaner Nationalists (the National Party) used their governmental power to segregate South Africans under law. They employed laws that segregated individuals based on race and made resistance punishable by law.

In 1950, the party implemented one of their first policies, The Population Registration Act of 1950. With this act, South African individuals were legally segregated into three separate groups- Bantu (black African), white, or Coloured (mixed race). The Coloured group generally encompassed Asians, Indians and Pakistanis. This was done by detaching South Africans from their own country. They were required to carry pass books that contained photos, fingerprints and background information that was easily accessible to legal officials. This concept of easy identification of inferior race was also used by the Nazi party to classify Jews. For example, because of the Nuremberg Laws of 1935, Jews were required to carry pass cards with a red “J” stamped onto it. They were also required to wear the Jewish Star of David so that they were easily recognizable and thus- easily policed.

In addition, because of the Population Registration Act, white or non white individuals were classified by the judgment of The Department of Home Affairs, a bureau of the National Party. According to this law, a person was only considered white if his parents were both white, and if his habits, education and speech were deemed “obviously white''. This type of legal discrimination was similar to the way that Nazi’s classified the Jews in the 1930s. With the Nuremberg Laws of 1935, Nazi’s declared that “anyone who had three or four Jewish grandparents” was to be defined as a Jew, regardless of the individual’s current beliefs or faith (UHSMM, “The Nuremberg Race Laws”). = =



Throughout the 1950s and 1970s, numerous laws were passed by the South African government that further controlled the rights of non-white citizens. One of which was **the Group Areas Act of 1950**. With this act, all non-white South American citizens were forbidden to work or live in residential and business sections that were devoted to white South Africans. This law, like many other laws during this time, made it a criminal offense, punishable by law, for all non-white citizens working or living in sections outside their designated domain. Because of this law, Nationalists in 1950s and 1970s developed laws that further segregated the communities.



With **the Bantu Authorities Act of 1951** and **Promotion of Bantu Self Government Act of 1959**, ten African “homelands” were established. These “homelands” or “townships” were areas that forcibly relocated thousands of black South Africans out of white domains. With these areas, political and economical rights were completely excluded from black civilians. Conditions were poor, and it was highly over populated. In addition, the land that was designated to the townships was lacking many natural resources that made the land unfertile. Thus- “townships” inhibited any South African economic or governmental prosperity from lack of resources. This concept of segregating individuals by land was used by the Nazi’s in the form of ghettos, concentration camps, and death camps. The first ghetto was established in 1939 in which thousands of Jew’s were forced to live in miserable conditions. Disease was rampant and conditions were beyond poor. Similar to the South African “townships”, ghettos, concentration camps and death camps led to thousands of deaths all over Europe.



Throughout the apartheid, there were numerous examples of resistance that was present in both the townships and within the global communities. For example, there were many situations in which black South Africans or white supporters of anti-apartheid movements protested either peacefully or through armed coalitions. Nevertheless, it was not long before laws were established that protected legal authorities in their prosecution. In 1953, the **Public Safety Act** and **the Criminal Law Amendment Act** were both passed which allowed the government to declare harsh legal penalties for protestors. Examples of legal punishment included torture, death and life imprisonment. Similar to the apartheid, resistance was seen within the Jewish ghettos. The most common and forceful form of Jewish resistance was through organized armed forces. In one particular case in 1943 Warsaw, Jewish resistance fighters were able to withhold the superior German Nazis for nearly a month before the Germans were able to completely deport the camp. Despite the Jewish and South African’s attempts, many acts of resistance ultimately faced death.



In addition to resistance acts within the townships, the Apartheid was protested globally through the international community. In 1961, South Africa was forcibly removed from the British Commonwealth and in 1985 the United States and Great Britain created economic sanctions on South Africa. In 1990, after nearly a decade of discrimination, the National Party reformed their legislation and the country’s constitution was rewritten. Many of the imprisoned black leaders were released; one of which being the future first elected black president, Nelson Mandela. 

=<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 25px;">Memory Culture =
 * Apartheid Museum- This museum gives the history behind apartheid and also displays the "suffering, heroism, and tragedy" by those affected by apartheid.
 * Robben Island- This is the site of the prison where Nelson Mandela and hundreds of other freedom fighters and black political leaders were imprisoned.
 * District Six Museum- District Six is an area that was once a mixed community. After it was declared a white area, thousands of blacks, coloureds, and Indians were removed from their homes. This museum details memories by those affected and the history of forced removal in South Africa.
 * Red Location Museum- The Red Location Museum uses memory boxes to personally commemorate individuals and groups that resisted apartheid.[[image:iah231b/apartheid_museum width="221" height="220" align="right" caption="Apartheid Museum Entrance"]]
 * Hector Pieterson Museum (Soweto)- Located in Soweto (South West Township), the area of the 1976 student uprising. The museum memorializes 12-year-old Hector, who was shot and killed during the resistance. The museum details the events that led up to the uprising and how the events impacted to fight for freedom. Soweto also holds The Mandela House.
 * Voortrekker Monument- This controversial monument pays homage to the Voortrekkers that left the cape colonies between 1835 and 1854. Some people say that the monument celebrates South Africa's apartheid past.
 * Freedom Park- A memorial that tells the history of South Africa from precolonial to post-apartheid

//"Memorial sights are about finding ways to embody and to speak the unspeakable-about trauma, imprisonment, separation, and loss" -Annie Coombes//

There have have been some controversial issues in terms of memory culture in South Africa. In an article by Shane Graham, he states that the apartheid museum slogan is "apartheid is where it belongs-in a museum." He argues that because apartheid is "tucked away" in a museum it can be forgotten about in day to day life (p.72). Ivan Vladislavik tells a story of a museum director that fights to get an actual "whites only bench" instead of a replica for a museum. He wins and the bench is set in an exhibit inside the museum while the replica is placed outside. The story ends with Coretta Scott King posing for a photograph on the replica. The replica bench shows the realism behind "petty apartheid". It can be seen when a white man sits on the bench and a black women quickly shuffles past the bench. Although this story was wrote years before the Apartheid or Hector Pieterson museum was created, it shows just what the author argues; that "museuming is a process of granting meaning and significance that does not always correlate with the intention of preserving memory" and that the de-contextualized area of a museum can sometimes work against the museums aim to reanimate the past.

=<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 25px;">The Truth and Reconciliation Commission =



<span style="display: block; font-family: 'times new roman',times,serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">“Truth commissions respond to the societal need to know what caused <span style="display: block; font-family: 'times new roman',times,serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">the violence, how it was carried out including who and what segments of <span style="display: block; font-family: 'times new roman',times,serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">society were implicated and what were the consequences of these events.” (Fletcher 629)

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was comprised of three separate committees
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;"> The Human Rights Violations Committee,
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">The Reparation and Rehabilitation Committee
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">The Amnesty Committee

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">to hold hearings to uncover the truth about the crimes of Apartheid. The TRC was not a court, but rather a court-like proceeding held in many prominent locations across South Africa. The intent of the trials was on the recovery of the state as a whole, rather than the guilt or punishment of the individuals. Although some individuals also underwent criminal proceedings, the TRC was focused on reconciliation rather than retribution. Witnesses and victims were asked to testify at a hearing in order to produce an accurate historical record of the truth of the crimes that had occurred, which had previously been covered up and denied by the government. Perpetrators were also given the chance to explain the context of their action (political motivation, government pressure, etc.) in the hopes of being granted amnesty. Individuals from both sides were investigated, did not favor the winning side.


 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">"The Commission was obliged by statute to deal even-handedly with all victims … this does not mean … that moral judgment was suspended or that the Commission made no distinction between violations committed by those defending apartheid and those committed to its eradication" (Volume 1, Chapter 4 of TRC Report)

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">Only 849 were granted amnesty out of 7112 cases.



<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">The TRC is often contrasted to the Nuremberg trials which demanded retribution from the defendants. While, TRC is generally viewed as more successful in restoring national justice than the Nuremberg trials, there is criticism of it. One criticism had to do with the translation of witness testimony. There were many different languages spoken at the trials which had to be translated to the Committees. Many argue that the emotion and full impact of the testimony was often lost or distorted through translation, which may have affected the decision for or against amnesty. Another main criticisms of the trials is that many people felt as if the perpetrators were, although identified and investigated, not brought to justice for their crimes. The Executive Secretary of the TRC addresses this criticism saying,

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">"Punishment for past wrongs is a very important, but not indispensable strategy <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">in dealing with the past . . . an inflexible approach to punishment should not <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">divert resources or distract the international community from formulating and <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">implementing other initiatives to promote and protect human rights."

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">The TRC focused one public awareness and the well being of the nation. The opening of the trials were broadcasted on live television. The entirety of the trails continued on radio broadcast. After the conclusion of the hearings the TRC produced a five volume public report which reviews the findings of the Amnesty Committee.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Work Cited

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">O'Malley, Padraig. "1950 Group Areas Act No 41" //O'Malley: The Heart of Hope//. (2011). Web. 28 Nov. 2011. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;"><http://www.nelsonmandela.org/index.php/memory>

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">"South Africa: Overcoming Apartheid Building Democracy".Michigan State University. (2011). Web. 28 Nov. 2011 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;"><http://overcomingapartheid.msu.edu/multimedia.php?id=3>

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">"The Holocaust: A Learning Site for Students"//.United State Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington DC//. (2011). Web. 28 Nov 2011 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;"><http://www.ushmm.org/outreach/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007669>

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Robinson, Alonford James Jr. "Apartheid: social and political policy of racial segregation and discrimination enforced by white minority governments in <span style="font-family: arial,helvetica;">South Africa from 1948 to 1994".//Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience.//(1999). Web. 28 Nov. 2011 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;"><http://www.africanaencyclopedia.com/>

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Grobman, Gary M." Jewish Resistance to Nazi Genocide" //Jewish Virtual Library.// (1990). Web. 28 Nov. 2011. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;"><http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/grobres.html>

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Vershbow, Michela E. "The Sounds of Resistance: The Role of Music in South Africa's Anti-Apartheid Movement" Student Pulse. (2011) Web. 28 Nov. 2011 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;"><http://www.studentpulse.com/articles/265/the-sounds-of-resistance-the-role-of-music-in-south-africas-anti-apartheid-movement>

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Harris, Verne. "History After Apartheid: Visual Culture and Public Memory in a Democratic South Africa; Apartheid's Festival: Contesting South Africa's National Pasts." //The Public Historian// 26.4 (2004): 115-8. //ProQuest Research Library.// Web. 21 Nov. 2011.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Graham, Shane. "Memory, Memorialization, and the Transformation of Johannesburg: Ivan Vladislavić's the Restless Supermarket and Propaganda by Monuments." //MFS: Modern Fiction Studies// 53.1 (2007): 70-96. //MLA International Bibliography.// Web. 28 Nov. 2011.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Fletcher, Laurel E., and Harvey Weinstein. "Violence and Social Repair: Rethinking the Contribution of Justice to Reconciliation." //Human Rights Quarterly// 24.3 (2002): 573-639.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">"Truth and Reconciliation Commission." //The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development's Website//. 2009. Web. 28 Nov. 2011. []

"The My Hero Project - Amy Biehl." //The MY HERO Project//. 11 June 2004. Web. 29 Nov. 2011. [].

Reid, Frances. "Iris Films: LNJID - Amy Biehl." //Welcome to Iris Films//. Web. 29 Nov. 2011. <http://www.irisfilms.org/longnight/ln_biehl.htm>.