Akron Central Schools / Overview



SOUTH AFRICA&APARTHEID DOCUMENTSDocument 1: A Timeline of South African History?1651: Dutch settlers arrive in South Africa. In 1756, they import slaves from West Africa, Malaysia, and India, establishing the dominance of whites over non-whites in the region.?1867: Diamond mining begins in South Africa. Africans are given the most dangerous jobs, are paid far less than white workers, and are housed in fenced, patrolled barracks. Oppressive conditions and constant surveillance keep Africans from organizing for better wages and working conditions.1910: The Union of South Africa is formed. English and Dutch are made official languages. The all-white government decides that blacks can vote but cannot hold office.1912: The African National Congress is formed. This political party aims to organize Africans in the struggle for civil rights.?1913: The Natives Land Act gives little of the country's land to Africans, who make up 80% of the population, and forces them to reside in reserved areas mainly unwanted by whites.1946: African mine workers are paid twelve times less than their white counterparts and are forced to do the most dangerous jobs. Over 75,000 Africans go on strike in support of higher wages. Police use violence to force the unarmed workers back to their jobs. Over 1000 workers are injured or killed.1948: The Afrikaner National Party wins elections on a platform of strict racial segregation. Apartheid becomes the law of the land.*************************Document 2: Natives Land Act (No. 27) of 1913The?Natives Land Act?(No. 27 of 1913), which was later known as the Bantu Land Act or Black Land Act, was one of the many laws that ensured the economic and social dominance of whites, and was the first major piece of segregation legislation passed by the Union of South Africa’s Parliament prior to the “official” start of apartheid in 1948. Under the Black Land Act, which came into force June 19th, 1913, black South Africans were no longer be able to own, buy, or even rent land outside of designated, segregated reserves commonly known as “homelands.” (It also stipulated that whites could not buy or rent land from blacks in their reserved areas.) The only way non-whites could live or even be found inside white neighborhoods was if they could prove they had employment there. Even that had restrictions as you only had permission to be there during your working hours or going to and from work, unless of course the nature of your work was a live-in personal servant. These reserves not only amounted to just 7-8% of South Africa's land, but were also less fertile than lands set aside for white owners. ?In effect, over 80% went to white people, who made up less than 20% of the population. In 1991, the South African legislature passed the Abolition of Racially Based Land Measures, which repealed most of the Natives Land Act and many of the laws that followed it.**********************Document 3: Immorality Act of 1927 (excerpts)To prohibit illicit carnal intercourse between Europeans and natives and other acts in relation thereto.BE IT ENACTED?by the King’s Most Excellent Majesty, the Senate and the House of Assembly of the Union of South Africa, as follows:1.?Any European male who has illicit carnal intercourse with a native female, and any native male who has illicit carnal intercourse with a European female, in circumstances which do not amount to rape, an attempt to commit rape, [or an] indecent assault…shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to imprisonment for a period not exceeding five years.2.?Any native female who permits any European male to have illicit carnal intercourse with her and any European female who permits any native male to have illicit carnal intercourse with her shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to imprisonment for a period not exceeding four years. 4.?Any owner or occupier of any premises who knowingly permits the use of such premises for the purpose of any offence against any provision of this Act shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to imprisonment for a period not exceeding five years.7.?In this Act the expression “illicit carnal intercourse” means carnal intercourse other than between husband and wife and the expression “native” means any member of any aboriginal race or tribe of Africa.**********************Document 4: The National Party’s Colour Policy ~ March 29th, 1948 (excerpts)The following are excerpts from a pamphlet on the racial situation in South Africa which sets out the general principles of apartheid established by the ruling, all-white National Party in 1948.…[The National Party’s] aim is the maintenance and protection of the European population of the country as a pure White race [and] the maintenance and protection of the indigenous racial groups as separate communities……We can act in only one of two directions. Either we must follow the course of equality-which [will] eventually mean national suicide for the White race- or we must take the course of separation (apartheid) through which the character and the future of every race will be protected and safeguarded.…The party therefore undertakes to protect the White race properly and effectively against any policy, doctrine or attack which might undermine or threaten its continued existence. At the same time the party rejects any policy of oppression and exploitation of the non-Europeans by the Europeans…The party believes that a definite policy of separation (apartheid) between the White races and the non-White racial groups, and the application of the policy of separation also in the case of the non-White racial groups, is the only basis on which the character and future of each race can be protected and safeguarded…The party wishes all non-Europeans to be strongly encouraged to make the Christian religion the basis of their lives and will assist churches in this task in every possible way. Churches and societies which undermine (challenge) the policy of apartheid and propagate doctrines foreign to the nation will be [investigated].*********************Document 5: Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act of 1949 (excerpts)To prohibit marriages between Europeans and non-Europeans, and to provide for matters incidental thereto(2) If any male person who is domiciled in the Union enters into a marriage outside the Union which cannot be solemnized in the Union in terms of sub-section (1), then such marriage shall be void and of no effect in the Union.2.?Any marriage officer who knowingly performs a marriage ceremony between a European and a non-European shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds.3.?Any person who is in appearance obviously a European or a non-European, as the case may be, shall for the purposes of this Act be deemed to be such, unless and until the contrary is proved.4.?Any person who makes a false statement to a marriage officer, relating to the question whether any party seeking to have his marriage solemnized by such marriage officer is a European or a non-European, knowing such statement to be false, shall be guilty of an offence and liable to the penalties prescribed by law for the crime of perjury.***********************Document 6: Natives (Abolition of Passes?and Co-ordination of?Documents) Act?of 1952 (excerpts)…To provide for the issue of reference books to natives…& to provide for incidental matters.2. (1) The Minister may by notice in the [paper] require every native who has attained the age of sixteen years…to appear before an officer during a period and time specified, in order that a reference book book…may be issued to such native.3. (1) An officer before whom a native appears in pursuance of [such notice mentioned above] shall:a. in the prescribed manner take…finger prints of that native and transmit them to the bureau; andb. issue that native a reference book in which shall be recorded the appropriate prescribed particulars relating to such native [including their name, address, work locations and times in white areas, dealings with police, etc.] 8. (1) Any [European] person who…a. enters into a [labor] contract…with a native…who has reached sixteen years…[and] is to be employed in an area outside [their required, segregated living areas] orb. [has written permission to be living in a white neighborhood]; Shall within fourteen days after entering such contract [to notify the] native commissioner [where] the native is to be employed and record [it] in the reference book (2) If such native deserts from his service or if such contract is terminated [the employer must notify the native commissioner and] also record the date thereof in such native’s reference book9. No native not born in [South Africa]…shall enter any [European] district, otherwise in the course of his employment, without the written permission of the local native commissioner [who lives in that area].13. Any authorized officer may at any time call upon any native…to produce to him a reference book.15. Any person- a. being a native…who has attained the age of sixteen years, who- i. is not in possession of his reference book; ii. refuses to produce his reference book to an authorized officer; iii. produces his own reference book to an authorized officer which contains false information or tries with the intent of deceiving the officer; iv. possesses someone else’s reference book representing it as his own; v. allows another to possess his own reference book;b. who fails to comply with any provision of section 8 or 9c. who willfully imitates, alters, defaces, destroys, or mutilates any reference book,Shall be guilty of an offence and on conviction liableaa. …to a fine not exceeding ten pounds or imprisonment not exceeding one month under violations covered in Section ii abovebb. …to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds or to imprisonment not exceeding 6 months under violations covered under Sections i, iii, iv and v above ******************************Document 7: Reservation of Separate Amenities act of 1953 (excerpts)To provide for the reservation of public premises and vehicles or portions thereof for the exclusive use of persons of a particular race or class, for the interpretation of laws which provide for such reservation, and for matters incidental thereto.2.?(1) Any person who is in charge of or has control of any public premises or any public vehicle, whether as owner or lessee or whether by virtue of his office or otherwise, or any person acting under his control or direction may, whenever he deems it expedient and in such manner or by such means as he may consider most convenient for the purpose of informing all persons concerned, set apart or reserve such premises or such vehicle or any portion of such premises or such vehicle or any counter, bench, seat or other amenity or contrivance in or on such premises or vehicle, for the exclusive use of persons belonging to a particular race or class.(2) Any person who wilfully enters or uses any public premises or public vehicle or any portion thereof or any counter, bench, seat or other amenity or contrivance which has in terms of sub-section (1) been set apart or reserved for the exclusive use of persons belonging to a particular race or class, being a race or class to which he does not belong, shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding three months, or to both such fine and such imprisonment.(3) If in any prosecution under sub-section (2) it is proved that a notice in both official languages announcing that any public premises or any public vehicle or any portion thereof or any counter, bench, seat or other amenity or contrivance has been set aside or reserved for the exclusive use of persons belonging to at particular race or class, appears at, in or on such premises or vehicle or portion thereof or such counter, bench, seat or other amenity or contrivance, it shall be presumed, unless the?contrary is proved, that such setting aside or reservation was made under due and proper authority in accordance with the provisions of sub-section (1). ******************Document 8a: Excerpts from Nelson Mandela’s “I am Prepared to Die” Speech at his Trial for Sabotage* (excerpts)Unlike Mohandas Gandhi in India, Black nationalist Nelson Mandela of South Africa was no pacifist in resisting white European rule. Below he speaks out at his trial for sabotage, for which he would be found guilty and imprisoned for 27 years. Pay attention to his justification for his actions and for the solutions he was fighting for to help South African blacks gain full independence.…I admit immediately that I was one of the persons who helped to form Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation)**, and that I played a prominent role in its affairs until I was arrested in August 1962.…I must deal immediately and at some length with the question of violence. Some of the things so far told to the Court are true and some are untrue. I do not, however, deny that I planned sabotage. I did not plan it in a spirit of recklessness, nor because I have any love of violence. I planned it as a result…of the political situation that had arisen after many years of tyranny, exploitation, and oppression of my people by the Whites.…it was precisely because the soil of South Africa is already drenched with the blood of innocent Africans that we felt it our duty to make preparations…to use force in order to defend ourselves against force.…we felt that without violence there would be no way open to the African people to succeed in their struggle against the principle of white supremacy. All lawful modes of expressing opposition to this principle had been closed.…All whites undergo compulsory military training, but no such training was given to Africans. It was in our view essential to build…trained men who would be able to provide the leadership which would be required if guerrilla warfare started.…I started to make a study of the art of war and revolution and…underwent a course in military training. If there was to be guerrilla warfare, I wanted to be able to stand and fight with my people and to share the hazards of war with them…Today I am attracted by the idea of a classless society, an attraction which springs in part from Marxist reading……It is true, as I have already stated, that I have been influenced by Marxist thought.…It is true that there has often been close co-operation between the African National Congress and the Communist Party.… During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.* Sabotage is the act of destroying or damaging something deliberately so that it does not work correctly** Spear of the Nation, or Umkhonto we Sizwe, was the militant sub-group of the Marxist-supporting African National Congress. (See lyrics below)Document 8b: Lyrics to the Anthem of Spear of the NationMandela fully accepted the positions of South Africa’s Communist Party and used its strength to turn the ANC to terrorism.? His “Spear of the Nation” subgroup led a terrorist insurgency that included bombings of public places. It killed many, many more civilians than it did members of the regime’s security forces — copiously including women and children. Indeed, it killed many more people than the approximately 7,000 black South Africans who, according to the post-apartheid Truth and Reconciliation Commission, were killed by the regime during the 46 years of apartheid. In fact, twice that number, over 14,000 people, were killed between 1990 and 1994 — the period during which the ANC was legalized and black-on-black violence became rampant, just as it is in South Africa today. The ANC systematically killed rivals for power and suspected regime informants — most notoriously, by the savage method of “necklacing,” in which a tire filled with gasoline was hung around the terrified victim’s neck and then set on fire. Mandela also struck alliances with the world’s worst Communist thugs. A particular favorite was Fidel Castro, the leader of a Cuba that, Mandela brayed, “stands out head and shoulders above the rest?.?.?.?in its love for human rights and liberty.” He similarly courted Moammar Qaddafi, Yasser Arafat, and the totalitarian regimes of North Korea and Iran. Below are the lyrics for the anthem of Spear of the Nation.“Go safely Spear. Spear of the Nation. We the members of the Spear have pledged ourselves to killthem — kill the whites.”[Source: ]*****************Document 9: Terrorism Act of 1967 (excerpts)To prohibit terroristic activities and to amend the law relating to criminal procedure; and to provide for other incidental matters.[1].?…[A]ny person who—(a) with intent to endanger the maintenance of law and order in the Republic…or elsewhere commits any act or attempts to commit, or conspires with any other person to aid or procure the commission of or to commit, or incites, instigates, commands, aids, advises, encourages or procures any other person to commit, any act; or(b) …undergoes, or attempts, consents or takes any steps to undergo, or incites, instigates, commands, aids, advises, encourages or procures any other person to undergo any training which could be of use to any person intending to endanger the maintenance of law and order...; or(c) possesses any explosives, ammunition, fire-arm or weapon, and who fails to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he did not intend using such [devices]… in the Republic or any portion thereof;The accused shall be guilty of the offence of participation in terroristic activities and liable on conviction to the penalties provided for by law for the offence of treason: Provided that, except where the death penalty is imposed, the imposition of a sentence of imprisonment for a period of not less than five years shall be compulsory, whether or not any other penalty is also imposed.…(2) If in any prosecution for an offence…it is proved that the accused has committed or attempted to commit, or conspired with any other person to aid or… commit the act alleged in the charge, and that the commission of such act had or was likely to have had, any of the following results in the Republic or any portion thereof, namely—to hamper or to deter any person from assisting in the maintenance of law and order;to promote, by intimidation, the achievement of any object;to cause or promote general dislocation, disturbance or disorder; to cripple or prejudice any industry or undertaking or industries or undertakings generally or the production or distribution of commodities or foodstuffs at any place;to cause, encourage or further an insurrection or forcible resistance to the Government or the Administration of the territory;to further or encourage the achievement of any political aim, including the bringing about of any social or economic change, by violence or forcible means or by the intervention of or in accordance with the direction or under the guidance of or in co-operation with or with the assistance of any foreign government or any foreign or international body or institution;to cause serious bodily injury to or endanger the safety of any person;to cause substantial financial loss to any person or the State;to cause, encourage or further feelings of hostility between the White and other inhabitants of the Republic;to damage, destroy, endanger, interrupt, render useless or unserviceable or put out of action the supply or distribution at any place of light, power, fuel, foodstuffs or water, or of sanitary, medical, fire extinguishing, postal, telephone or telegraph services or installations, or radio transmitting, broadcasting or receiving services or installations;to obstruct or endanger the free movement of any traffic on land, at sea or in the air;to embarrass the administration of the affairs of the State;The accused shall be presumed to have committed or attempted to commit, or conspired with such other person to aid or procure the commission of or to commit, or incited, instigated, commanded, aided, advised, encouraged or procured such other person to commit, such act with intent to endanger the maintenance of law and order in the Republic, unless it is proved beyond a reasonable doubt that he did not intend any of the results aforesaid.3.?Any person who harbors or conceals or directly or indirectly renders any assistance to any other person whom he has reason to believe to be a terrorist, shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to the penalties provided by law for the offence of treason: Provided that, except where the death penalty is imposed, the imposition of a sentence of imprisonment for a period of not less than five years shall be compulsory, whether or not any other penalty is imposed.*************************Document 10: Extracts from Bishop Desmond Tutu’s Letter to Prime Minister John Vorster ~May 6th, 1976Bishop Desmond Tutu (born October 7th, 1931) is a?South African?social rights activist and retired?Anglican?bishop who rose to worldwide fame during the mid-1970s as an opponent and one of the strongest voices against South Africa’s apartheid policy. Not one to simply give speeches, Tutu travelled the world for years to lobby world governments to boycott all trade, business dealings, and travel to South Africa- even to bar South Africa from the Olympics (which it had for almost 20 years)- until it lifted apartheid policies. Below, Bishop Tutu wrote a letter to South African Prime Minister John Vorster in which he not only gives dire & direct warnings if apartheid continues, but also offers solutions on how to bring racial harmony to all South Africans.Dear Prime Minister,YOUR people more than any other section of the white community must surely know in the very core of their beings, if they were unaware of the lessons of history both ancient and modern, that absolutely nothing will stop a people from attaining their freedom to be a people who can hold their heads high, whose dignity to be human persons is respected, who can assume the responsibilities and obligations that are the necessary concomitants of the freedom they yearn for with all their being...We all, black and white together, belong to South Africa and blacks yield place to no one in their passionate love for this our beloved land. We belong together - we will survive or be destroyed together...I write to you, sir, because our Ambassador to the United Nations, Mr Botha, declared that South Africa was moving away from discrimination based on race. This declaration excited not only us but the world at large. I am afraid that very little of this movement has been in evidence so far. It is not to move substantially from discrimination when some signs are removed from park benches. These are only superficial changes which do not fundamentally affect the lives of blacks...We don't see this much-longed-for movement when we look at the overcrowded schools in townships, at the inadequate housing and inadequate system of transport...I write to you, sir, because, like you, I am deeply committed to real reconciliation with justice for all and to peaceful change to a more just and open South African society in which the wonderful riches and wealth of our country will be shared more equitably. I write to you, sir, to say with all the eloquence I can command that the security of our country ultimately depends not on military strength and a security police being given more and more draconian power to do virtually as they please without being accountable to the courts of our land; courts which have a splendid reputation throughout the world for fairness and justice...That is why we have called and continue to call for the release of all detainees or that they should be brought before the courts where they should be punished if they have been found guilty of indictable offences...There is much disquiet in our land that people can be held for such long periods in detention and then often either released without being charged or when charged are usually acquitted; but this does not free them from police harassment. Though often declared innocent by the courts, they are often punished by being banned or placed under house arrest or immediately re-detained...How long can a people, do you think, bear such blatant injustice and suffering? Much of the white community by and large, with all its prosperity, its privilege, its beautiful homes, its servants, its leisure, is hag-ridden with a fear and a sense of insecurity...And this will continue to be the case until South Africans of all races are free. Freedom, sir, is indivisible. The whites in this land will not be free until all sections of our community are genuinely free...We need one another and blacks have tried to assure whites that they don't want to drive them into the sea. How long can they go on giving these assurances and have them thrown back in their faces with contempt? They say even the worm will turn.I am writing to you, sir, because I have a growing nightmarish fear that unless something drastic is done very soon then bloodshed and violence are going to happen in South Africa almost inevitably. A people can take only so much and no more...I wish to God that I am wrong and I have misread history and the situation in my beloved homeland, my mother country, South Africa...A people made desperate by despair and injustice and oppression will use desperate means. I am frightened, dreadfully frightened, that we may soon reach a point of no return, when events will generate a momentum of their own, when nothing will stop their reaching a bloody denouement which is 'too ghastly to contemplate' to quote your words, sir...No, I know violence and bloodshed and I and many of our people don't want them at all...But we blacks are exceedingly patient and peace-loving. We are aware that politics is the art of the possible. We cannot expect you to move so far in advance of your voters that you alienate their support...We are ready to accept some meaningful signs which would demonstrate that you and your government and all whites really mean business when you say you want peaceful change... First, accept the urban black as a permanent inhabitant of what is wrongly called white South Africa with consequent freehold property rights...He will have a stake in the land and would not easily join those who wish to destroy his country...Indeed, he would be willing to die to defend his mother country and his birth right...Secondly, and also as a matter of urgency, to repeal the pass laws which demonstrate to blacks more clearly than anything else that they are third-rate citizens in their beloved country...Thirdly, it is imperative, sir, that you call a national convention made up of the genuine leaders of all sections of the community to try to work out an orderly evolution of South Africa into a non-racial, open and just society...I believe firmly that your leadership is quite unassailable and that you have been given virtually a blank cheque by the white electorate and you have little to fear from a so-called right-wing backlash...For if the things which I suggest are not done soon, a rapidly deteriorating situation arrested, then there will be no right-wing to fear - there will be nothing...I shall soon become Bishop of Lesotho when I must reside in my diocese. But I am quite clear in my own mind, and my wife supports me in this resolve, that we should retain our South African citizenship no matter how long we have to remain in Lesotho...Yours respectfully,Desmond Tutu.***********************Document 11: Photos from the The Soweto Riots/Uprising ~ June 16th, 1976Bishop Tutu’s warnings proved correct. The?Soweto Riots/Uprising?were a series of?demonstrations?and protests in?South Africa that began on the morning of June 16th, 1976, that ended with approximately 400-700 people dead. An estimated 20,000 students from numerous Sowetan schools began to protest in the streets of?Soweto?in response to the requirement of?a Dutch language, known as Afrikaans,?to be used as the?standard language of instruction?in local black schools.?The issue of language was a sensitive one as black Africans demanded recognition of their own languages and cultures, and also wanted to learn English, as it was a language universally used in the business world; thus it was seen as an opportunity to better one’s self. While there was always some opposition to apartheid within the country, the government was powerful enough to suppress virtually all criticism. Ultimately, the Soweto Uprising led to greater international exposure and censure for the South African government and its policy of apartheid. Photo 1Photo 21060707417614003467710744570500 Photo 377282030566400 Photo 41123874342290400 Photo 5911441648599200Photo 6 Photo 611556741035050 Photo 71250290center00 Photo 81475308604433700Document 12: Tom Toles Cartoon (1990)center1078916 ................
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