Fundamental To Apartheid And Jim Crow

Fundamental to Apartheid and Jim Crow were values and habits that supported the oppression of groups of people who were perceived to be inferior. These systems take on different forms, but essentially have same structure. The implementation and maintenance of legislation passed during these eras allowed for the continued degradation of minorities. Many external factors aided in keeping these laws afloat and ensuring the dominance of the oppressors. Political, economic and societal pressures allowed for the enforcement of racially charged legislation systems.
Racial segregation and white supremacy had become central aspects of South African policy long before apartheid began. Before the official beginning of apartheid, native Africans were subject to controlling demands and oppressed by the Dutch settlers. Afrikaners, the descendants of the
original Dutch settlers became the white tribe of Africa.
The whites were by definition the minority, meaning they were the smaller part of the country's population; however, they did not let their small numbers affect their presence and power. Afrikaners mostly comprised the government responsible for implementing apartheid, the National Party. The founder of the National Party, General JBM Hertzog was not a typical member of the government. Before the National Party came to be, he openly and fiercely promoted his ideas of an independent South Africa over the interests of Britain. South Africa was not fully independent and was still subject to the higher authority of the British. The National Party was able to advance due to “progressive people” filled with enthusiasm for the 'Afrikaner cause'- putting their imprint on the state and using political power to steadily enhance their social self-confidence. After gaining full political power of South Africa in ,The National Party implemented legislation which legally gave whites total control of South Africa and the ability to suppress the natives and maintain superiority at whatever costs. Apartheid
policy steadily marginalized ethnic groups and undefined their culture and pride in their achievements. The Afrikaners were obsessed with their own fears and survival, and did not care about the damage and hurt their policies inflicted upon those in a weaker position. They were able to live their lives to the highest standard without any regard to anyone else especially non whites. The government instituted a number policies in apartheid to "ensure the survival of the white race" and to keep the different races separate on every level of society and facet of life.
Jim Crow was the name of the racial caste system which operated primarily, but not exclusively in southern and border states, between 1877 and the mid-1960s. Jim Crow was more than a series of rigid anti-black laws. It was a way of life. Under Jim Crow, African Americans were relegated to the status of second class citizens. Jim Crow represented the legitimization of anti-black racism. The system of legal segregation in the U.S. South was a totalitarian social system that Southern whites developed and maintained after the abolishment of slavery in 1865. The primary function was to continue the social system of servitude, the racial caste hierarchy, and the economic control of African Americans under the legal fiction of separate but equal. Legal and informal segregation practices (Jim Crow) meant comprehensive racial subordination and imposed a badge of degradation on all African Americans in many areas of the United States. The daily practice of legal segregation is “a compulsory ritual denoting first and second-class citizenship.” It has more than psychological and social significance, serving also the basic economic and political purpose of facilitating the exploitation of non whites by whites, collectively and individually,