Apartheid in South Africa: Ruling white minority domination over 'non-white' (black, mixed, indian) majority 1948-1994This week I learned about another event I had never hear off. The articles were a bit overwhelming so I asked my mom to sum up for me the events that occurred during the end of apartheid in South Africa. It is a fascinating, a disturbing, detail in history that has contemporary effects on South Africa.
The "Anti-Apartheid Organizing on Campus... and Beyond" was full of ideas on how to protest and get attention. While some of the ideas may seem a bit outdated, I think some also can be seen in the environmental movement.
For one, media can never be underestimated. The television can be a useful tool for gaining attention and really sinking a message into people. This power is abused by commercial advertisements but can still be used to get messages across. "Political Organizations and movements working for social change must consider the role of media in their society, they ways it an promote social change and the ways it reproduces old ideas and structures" (On Campus, 47). With the role of internet and social media we can send an even more powerful message today.
The anti-apartheid movement has some strong central figures. One of these was Nelson Mandela. As soon as the National Party was elected in 1948 he began anti-apartheid campaigns. He was sentences to life imprisonment in 1961. He was known as the most significant black leader in South Africa and there were many protests for his arrest. His sentence was undone in 1990 under a new president and he was released. In 1994 he was inaugurated president after winning in South Africa's first multi-racial election. While central figures have been important to past social movements I think part of the uniqueness and strength of the sustainability movement is that we are all leaders and we can all take equal action.
"Reigniting the Struggle" stresses the important of international involvement in ending apartheid. "...the international anti-apartheid movement made a major contribution to ending white domination" (2). Similar to this, people around the world today need to set aside differences and fight towards environmental justice. Here is a helpful timeline I found on BBC News to help me make sense of the length and dates of apartheid.
I also agree with the fact that the anti apartheid movement was a significant event in history. Great explanation on role of major citizens, and their contribution to movements. I thought you had an important point, that we are apart of sustainabilty movements.
ReplyDeleteHi Em, nice review of the historical events in the anti-apartheid movement. I didn't really know much about it either before we learned about it in class. The extent our classmate Sean described his brief knowledge of the subject was equal to my previous understanding. It is unbelievably overwhelming of a story. What moved me was the part students across the globe played in ensuring their own campuses weren't supporting the injustice.
ReplyDeleteStrong ending comment! We do need to set aside our differences and fight for environmental justice.