Rasicm

             Resistance groups were seen as communists and traitors and were thrown in jail or sentenced to.
             die.
             What makes apartheid so intriguing is the fact that, unlike most events of racial oppression, the.
             minority is oppressing the majority. The white population was vastly outnumbered by the blacks,.
             but the whites were able to keep control of the countries' economy and politics. In 1978, South.
             African blacks made up about eighty percent of the nation's population but only owned thirteen.
             percent of the land and contained a share of under twenty percent of the national income. Health.
             and education were two other areas which black oppression was obvious and tragic. There were.
             over 11 000 white doctors and under 500 black doctors in South Africa in 1978. This was the.
             main reason that the black infant mortality rate was as high as forty percent in rural South Africa.
             The reason for the lack of doctors in South Africa was the lack of attention given to the.
             education of blacks. A measly $40 was spent per year per black South African student, while.
             almost $700 was spent on each white student annually. (source: www-cs-students.stanford.edu) It.
             is not difficult to name instances of racial oppression, but it is extremely difficult to name any.
             other instance where a minority group of a country has such a firm grip on the ethnic majority.
             This is what makes South African apartheid so astounding and tragic.
             The struggle against apartheid was won in the early 1990's because of international pressure on.
             South Africa and because of black resistance to the oppression. In 1964, Nelson Mandela, the.
             popular leader of the African National Congress, an organization to combat apartheid, was.
             sentenced to life in prison for attempting to overthrow the South African government. Over the.
             next 27 years, Mandela became a worldwide symbol of oppressed peoples. During Mandela's.
             incarceration, the United Nations created a special committee against apartheid, the International.