A Review of South Africa's Abolition of Apartheid 25 Years Later

From 65438 to 0990, South Africa entered a new era of apartheid: nelson mandela was released from prison, President de Klerk lifted the ban on Mandela's party, the African National Congress, and the parliament abolished the laws that legalized apartheid. The word most closely related to the history of South Africa in the 20th century is apartheid. The word "apartheid" in Afrikaans describes the official apartheid system in South Africa. Although the discriminatory differences between European whites and African blacks can be traced back to the Anglo-Dutch imperialist era in19th century, the concept of apartheid did not become law until 1953. At that time, the white-dominated parliament passed the Law on Retaining Separation Facilities, which officially separated taxis, ambulances, hearses, buses, trains, elevators, benches, bathrooms, parks, church halls, city halls, cinemas, theaters, cafes, restaurants, hotels, schools, universities and other public spaces, as well as the later "Beach and

But abolition is more symbolic than activation, because the expected result is already in motion, said Daniel Magazin, an associate professor of history at Yale University. Law and Prophet: Black Consciousness in South Africa. 1968- 1977. Before the abolition, South Africans had begun to ignore some legal apartheid in public places. For example, blacks should have given sidewalks to whites, but in a big city like Johannesburg, this social norm has long been out of date. In many places, complete apartheid is impossible; These places are like parks with only white people, with black people as maintainers and black nannies playing with white children.

"In fact, the parliament passed the repeal bill by an overwhelming majority. I don't think this can explain the sudden liberalization of South African politics. " I think this shows that people realize that this law is outdated and no longer has practical effect. "

However, when the abolition came into effect in June 1990, the influence of apartheid was far from over. At the end of apartheid, South African whites only accounted for 65,438+00% of the national population, but they owned nearly 90% of the land. A quarter of a century after the repeal of the law, the land distribution in the country is still unequal. Although apartheid * * * announced plans to redistribute one-third of the country's land from whites to blacks by 20 14 years ago, less than 10% of the land was redistributed, and the deadline of 20 14 years was postponed to 2025.

The magazine warned that the focus on abolishing the separate convenience bill, as a sign of the end of apartheid, concealed the deeper problems caused by apartheid, which still affect the country today.

"The separate Convenience Act makes people see the long-standing practices in the past, Magaziner said," but it also makes other aspects of apartheid invisible, which are not covered by the Act, but have a more lasting impact in South Africa. "

The above photos are selected from the photo archives of the United Nations and Colby, showing the influence of the law on the reservation of independent facilities in public spaces in South Africa.