Anti-Apartheid Movement v. Civil Rights Movement

Well, I am now taking requests from people on what to write about for my blog. The first request is from my mother (you know I have to reserve the first spot for her because she was the one who carried me for 9 months :) ) Anyways, the request was to talk about the similarities between the Anti-Apartheid Movement and the Civil Rights Movement. As I told my mother, I will try my best not to make it a dissertation, but I come by it honestly (love you Papi).

The movement against Apartheid was active for many years through the ANC (African National Congress), but really took when 13 year old Hector Peterson was shot in Soweto during a peaceful protest in the Johannesburg/Pretoria area. The protest was made up of black school aged youth who were protesting against the law of having Afrikaans be the only language in school. Peterson was a part of this demonstration, mostly out of curiosity (his friend talked him into going). There is a famous picture of Peterson’s dead body being carried by another protester with Peterson’s sister crying and hanging on to the protester. The Press released this photo and numerous stories were written. From there the protests against Apartheid grew even stronger. This incident can be connected to Rosa Parks sitting on the bus and refusing to give up her seat. Movements are born when members of the lowest part of society are disrespected, as highlighted with both Peterson (a black child) and Parks (a black woman).

The ANC then organized various peaceful political protests, which later turned to violence because of the police. Alan Boesak became a leader in the fight against the churches who supported Apartheid. Boesak was a key leader because he was schooled in Calvin Theology, the theology that was central to the Dutch Reformed Church which was one of the heaviest supporters of Apartheid (Apartheid was justified by the Bible). Bishop Desmond Tutu also joined in on the religious fight, representing the Anglican Church. Having leadership in the black churches was crucial for the fight because non-whites were not allowed to gather in groups unless it was for church. Churches became meeting places for the Anti-Apartheid Movement. As you can see, the theme of church and church leaders is similar to the Civil Rights Movement. After some time, the ANC then recognized that in order to get the results they wanted, they would have to take a military approach. Some of the members of the ANC then became MKs (stands for an Afrikaner word that I don’t remember) training members in countries outside of South Africa for military combat. MKs then carried out violence on whites in order to disrupt their world and force the issue of inequality. The Apartheid government was forced to declare a state of emergency because of the violence taking place. During the time of the Apartheid government, many gross human rights violations were happening, but during the state of emergency even more happened because the government knew that it was only a matter of time before Apartheid would be gone. Negotiations were held between DeKlerk (current president at the time) and Mandela (who was in jail at the time for political reasons…he was a leader in the ANC which was banned by the government). The ban against the ANC was lifted and political prisoners were set free. During the ban, the male political prisoners were sent to Robben Island (located off the coast of Cape Town) and the female political prisoners were sent to the women’s prison in Pretoria. Free elections were later held, and Mandela was elected president. The lines were extremely long to vote because it was the first election that allowed everyone to vote (my host parents have talked about this a lot) but the feeling during those elections among the non-whites was the same, if not more, as when Obama was elected. A new government was formed, complete with at new constitution and flag.
Mandela became a leader of a country that was hurting mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and physically. He encouraged the formation of the TRC (Truth and Reconciliation Commission) and made sure it was separate from church, government, and ANC. After a year of research and coming up with the structure of the South African TRC, they were ready to roll. The TRC only dealt with gross human rights violations and were split up into three different branches: Human Rights Violations Committee (hearings from the victims, chaired by Tutu), the Amnesty Committee (hearings/trials of the perpetrators), and Reparations Committee (in charge of figuring out who deserved reparations and to what extent). Hearings took place all over South Africa and clip were broadcasted on TV every day. It was the beginning of the healing process for South Africa. I would like to say that America followed a similar path, but we did not. We still have not formally apologized to the groups of people who were historically oppressed and who continue to be oppressed. The TRC is not the end of the road for reconciliation in South Africa, there is so much more that needs to be done. This is something that is not talked about in America. When talking about South Africa and the TRC, we so often think that everything is all fine and dandy.

I have given you a very short history of South Africa. I have visited all of the placed mentioned in this blog. When walking through these moving sites, hearing the stories from people, or museums I find my identity (a white Christian with Dutch roots) being questioned yet again. I ask myself, “What would I have done if I was living in South Africa during this time? Would I be one of the few whites who stood up against the system, or would I be so far into the comfortable white bubble created by Apartheid that I wouldn’t even be aware that there were inequality issues?” I want to believe that I would stand up, but you never really know what you would do until you are put in the situation. Another thing that I have realized is that whites have become victims to the white privilege label. While hearing about stories of liberation, the shackles are being put on a different group. Although it may seem like the just thing to do as the time, it is an action that will hurt society in the long run. In order to overcome this label, their needs to be a new definition of white, one that accepts the large mistakes in history and works hard to never repeat history again. The stories of the TRC are particularly moving for me because in my own personal life I have found it hard to forgive. One thing I have realized is that forgiveness becomes easier once you know exactly who or what to forgive and having God present with you during and after the process. Forgiveness is not pretty, it is a moment of grief, but at the same time it releases you from bondage. Give yourself time and space to forgive. ~Shalom