Our main focus today was on the history of Apartheid. This was the official law of the land from 1948 and the consolidation of power for the Afrikaner National Party. This political party, with longstanding ties to Hitler's Nazi Party, came to power by mixing a strong sense of Boer nationalism, a belief in having a literal God-given destiny, and the political idea of total white supremacy. They created a racial residency program by controlling land and tightly restricting movement. Every person was issued a pass-card, which spelled out their race, and the areas in which they were allowed to move freely. People could quite literally be restricted to their own home. Families were separated as parents might have different racial designations from each other and their children. Blacks found their movements highly restricted, although all people of color, and anyone viewed as subversive, were also tightly controlled. Violating the pass law meant instant arrest, and both Steven Biko and Nelson Mandela were arrested for being out of their restricted spaces. Many people were arrested for pass law violations, as police officers could ask anyone at any time to produce their papers.
The other controlling arm for Apartheid was violence and the lack of due process of the law. Essentially, the Afrikaner government created a sort of martial law state for people of color. Black neighborhoods were heavily patrolled, electricity and water were cut as a means of control, mass arrests, and the heavy use of rubber (or real) bullets kept people in a state of fear.
This tragic history, in which many people were killed or tortured, is still under the surface. Part of the genius of this country is that the transition of power was peaceful and democratic. The people who struggled for justice, or died during Apartheid are memorialized in many places, but even after so many great wrongs, there was no violence or revenge as the country shifted to majority (Black) rule. Part of why Mandela is revered as a great statesman is that he was instrumental in this non-violent transition to the modern South Africa.
We had a long and moving visit to the Apartheid Museum, which is a world-class history museum dedicated to remembering what went wrong, how people fought, who died, and how change came. It's a very powerful museum, starting from the doors in, which divided us by an assigned race on our tickets. We came in through different doors, looking at real passbooks with racial designations.
Some of the exhibits were particularly moving. At one point, there's a memorial to the people who died in police custody. They have an official list--not complete--of all the known who died, and the list goes on and on, with causes of death such as "slipped in the shower," or "fight with other inmate." The whole room had nooses packed together hanging on long ropes from the ceiling. It was chilling. Another area had rebuilt some of the cells that were used to keep people in solitary confinement. They had no windows, and were hardly larger than a single human being. Many activists, including Winnie Mandela, were kept in solitary confinement for years.
Another really powerful exhibit was of a real "anti-riot" police tank called a Casspir. This giant vehicle was used by the police to patrol the townships. Soldiers would shoot and throw grenades from these giant trucks, and just the sight of them is impressive and scary. They have narrow windows with gun holes, and the particular Casspir that was on exhibit had bullet-chipped safety glass all along the sides. We could climb up inside, which was dark and closed and felt of paranoia and fear. It was pretty awful and I can only imagine what it would have been like to see it in a neighborhood as an instrument of repression.
One of the hopeful exhibits was at the end, where they showed artifacts and photos of South Africa's first democratic election in 1994. The political expressions and exuberance were clearly evident, and the best photo of hundreds and hundreds of people in snaking lines waiting to vote for the first time in their lives. That photo gave such a sense of hope for the future, it was wonderful! And it as a much-needed note of happiness amidst the horrors. We weren't able to take photos once we were inside the museum, but I'm including a couple photos here from as we entered.
The other controlling arm for Apartheid was violence and the lack of due process of the law. Essentially, the Afrikaner government created a sort of martial law state for people of color. Black neighborhoods were heavily patrolled, electricity and water were cut as a means of control, mass arrests, and the heavy use of rubber (or real) bullets kept people in a state of fear.
This tragic history, in which many people were killed or tortured, is still under the surface. Part of the genius of this country is that the transition of power was peaceful and democratic. The people who struggled for justice, or died during Apartheid are memorialized in many places, but even after so many great wrongs, there was no violence or revenge as the country shifted to majority (Black) rule. Part of why Mandela is revered as a great statesman is that he was instrumental in this non-violent transition to the modern South Africa.
We had a long and moving visit to the Apartheid Museum, which is a world-class history museum dedicated to remembering what went wrong, how people fought, who died, and how change came. It's a very powerful museum, starting from the doors in, which divided us by an assigned race on our tickets. We came in through different doors, looking at real passbooks with racial designations.
Some of the exhibits were particularly moving. At one point, there's a memorial to the people who died in police custody. They have an official list--not complete--of all the known who died, and the list goes on and on, with causes of death such as "slipped in the shower," or "fight with other inmate." The whole room had nooses packed together hanging on long ropes from the ceiling. It was chilling. Another area had rebuilt some of the cells that were used to keep people in solitary confinement. They had no windows, and were hardly larger than a single human being. Many activists, including Winnie Mandela, were kept in solitary confinement for years.
Another really powerful exhibit was of a real "anti-riot" police tank called a Casspir. This giant vehicle was used by the police to patrol the townships. Soldiers would shoot and throw grenades from these giant trucks, and just the sight of them is impressive and scary. They have narrow windows with gun holes, and the particular Casspir that was on exhibit had bullet-chipped safety glass all along the sides. We could climb up inside, which was dark and closed and felt of paranoia and fear. It was pretty awful and I can only imagine what it would have been like to see it in a neighborhood as an instrument of repression.
One of the hopeful exhibits was at the end, where they showed artifacts and photos of South Africa's first democratic election in 1994. The political expressions and exuberance were clearly evident, and the best photo of hundreds and hundreds of people in snaking lines waiting to vote for the first time in their lives. That photo gave such a sense of hope for the future, it was wonderful! And it as a much-needed note of happiness amidst the horrors. We weren't able to take photos once we were inside the museum, but I'm including a couple photos here from as we entered.
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