apartheid part 2

well...i didn't expect to be able to get back on the internet so soon...but i will continue my story about the apartheid in south africa.\r

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the death of hector peiterson was a turning point in apartheid. his death occurred on june 16, 1976. news of his death spread throughout the world and let everyone know about the blight going on in sa. each year, on june 16, national youth day is celebrated in sa.\r

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later on that day, i went to the apartheid museum. a fabulous museum that took 4 hours of my time. apartheid is spelled in black and museum in white. the museum is very well done...giving both sides of the issue.\r

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according to the museum, apartheid was defined as: 'pride, dommitment, anger, truth, decption, discovery, punishment, love, suffering, sacrifice, forgiveness and retribution. '\r

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as i said, the whites blamed the blacks on the bubonic plaque and the whites (called europeans) begin to fear the blacks for everything and moved into their territory. the gov't promised to build homes in soweto for the blacks..but that took years..and then the gov't didn't buildn enough homes. which is why the people begin to live in shacks made out of scraps they found...wood, tin, etc. \r

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about this time, the anc (african national congress) began to form and enalbled locals to became active nationals. the blacks had few schools and they were forced to put 1,000s of studnets in a small school while the whites had elaborate schools with new textbooks. many blacks fought against this and lost their lives as a result. for 2 years, no schools in soweto were opened...leaving those studnets without any education then.\r

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after hector's death, chaos erupted. looting, beating of whites, viloence, break ins, burning of buildings (reminds me of what happened in los angles) happened. this craziness continued until the 1990's. white journalists were baned from sa so the reporitng was sketchy. \r

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by now, 67% of the residnets in soweto were under age 30 and it really was the youth who helped to put an end to apartheid. they demanded to be treated equally. i couldn't quit thinking about the civil rights mvmt. in fact, their was a whole section in the apartheid museum comparing the sa apatheid to american's civil rights mvmt. \r

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as you probably remember, nelson mandela and others were imprisioned in robben island (cape town). i plan to visit this place this week. mandela was there for 27 years. \r

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the 7 facets of sa's new constitution, based upon the apartheid experience, are: 1. respect 2. freedom 3. responsibility 4. diversity 5. equality 6. rreconciliation 7. democracy. these sound like 7 good rules we should all live by. kb..sound like moc's college convenant or what?\r

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by the way, there were 4 classes of people during the apartheid. 1. africans-called bantus or blacks 2. colored (mixed descent) 3. asian4. whites---called europeans. as you entered the museum, you were given a card to be a european or bantu. i was a bantu. it was neat to see things from their perspective. some members of the same family were classified different races so they had to lead and live differetn lifestysles. crazy, eh?\r

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in 1989, things began to change. mandela was releasaed from prioson on feb. 11, 1990. in 1991, a peace accord was signed an apatheid was mainly at an end. on april 27, 1994, the first democratic election was held and the african national congress won 63% of the vote with nelson mandela being named president of sa. that year, there were 19 different people running for president.\r

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it was a very informative day going to soweto and the apartheid museum. i'm glad that i was educated on this important issue. it really makes one think...and realize how great my life has been.\r

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read on for adventures in kruger national park.\r

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adventure on,\r

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julie\r

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