White South Africans - Is it true that a large majority of white South Africans supported Apartheid?

reply to post by HomoSapiensSapiens

That's just it.. I'm not assuming much in Africa. Rhodesia become Zimbabwe and the breadbasket of Africa, as some called the rich and exceptionally productive farmlands there, were laid to waste in many cases or just sit fallow now because of forced eviction of farmers for racial land redistribution. Great ideas....and I'll say Mugabe really did present them as good, but it's an example of good ideas paving the road of good intentions right to the gates of Hades.

Is South Africa better? Well...No one would want to go BACK to what came before, I'm sure. Evil....That's the only real term I can think to use for Apartheid. Still....there is great trouble in S.A. from news I follow. Unrest and general unhappiness across the land some said would be sunshine and smiles after the oppression of the race based system was put behind them. Did it work out that way? Hmm... That's why I'm hoping South African citizens may happen along and give the perspective of a local for it.

No, not true at all. All whites had a deep sence the what they were doing was wrong. They had an even greater fear of what would happen to them if blacks came into power due to the various injustices they have already put the black population through.

Over and above that, blacks hating whites and whites hating blacks were mostly indoctronation. Indoctronation through the schools, churches and family members.

Most kids hated their colour counterparts not even knowing the reason for the hate. Come 1996 and that hate never went away.

Instead, it took new generations to come together. 30 years from now nobody will be alive to remember what happened in those days. Only then will that hate ever cease.

Indoctronation is a terrible thing. Just like Americans are now taught to hate Arabs and Muslims. Same plan, same thing, same mass manipulation.


But let me tell you this, there is a mere handfull of people still carying that hate. The worst tging you can be in today's South Africa, it a racist.


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reply to post by Wrabbit2000
I spoke to one of our South African members recently as my husband is traveling there in the near future due to his job and had some questions which she was happy to answer for me. I recall the days of Apartheid and all of the MSM attention it garnered- though not nearly soon enough if you ask me. It's a shame that it took a celebrity boycott to finally wake up the media to the atrocities occurring during Apartheid. Maybe that's why celebrities feel like anything they attempt to bring media attention to now should be taken seriously. I guess sometimes even they can do some good, but not often.

reply to post by littled16

It's funny you should mention celebrity attention, and I agree it was a major factor in world pressure finally ending the evils of apartheid. What always comes to mind when that comes up though is Lethal Weapon and the scene in the South African Embassy lobby, giving them all hell over the South African policies. It's a funny scene now, of course....but easy to recall when it was a politically important scene about a system still in full swing and running a nation.

I agree on both points. Celebrity attention has done some real good for some causes. S.A. is a big example, I'd say. Also though, they have let those successes go to their head in thinking anything they voice an opinion on is of equal gravity or importance just because they deemed to notice something and speak about it.

Apartheid in Africa was not an original idea but was a direct result of British colonial policies as demonstrated by the treatment of Aboriginal peoples in other countries occupied by the British.
For example Canada.

The following information found at:

www.shannonthunderbird.com...

CANADIAN AND SOUTH AFRICAN APARTHEID: A COMPARISON

South African policies were not out of step with a

Apartheid policies abounded in the post-European contact colonial world. There are more than enough similarities between Canada and South Africa to raise a red flag that South African officials came to Canada a few times in the late 1800s to see how a democratic country could go about oppressing its original citizens.

"Akin to the ways Indigenous resistance is and has been described as terrorist in Canada, Black resistance against the apartheid regime in South Africa was also deemed as terrorist and as a threat to the state and white South Africans. Like Canada, South Africa was a white settler state created through a process of the colonization of Indigenous peoples and lands.

In fact Canadian and South African officials shared colonial techniques. In the early 1900s South African officials came to Canada several times to study the colonial and reserve system set out in the Indian Act. Borrowing what they needed from these approaches, South African officials retuned to implant these highly racist tools in their own systems of segregation and apartheid." 6nsolidarity.wordpress.com... ALSO: offreserve.tripod.com...

General: Indian Act/Apartheid was imposed to cement control over national economic and social systems. They basically maintain white domination while keeping the offending racial groups separate. And so gradually over a relatively short spate of time, South African Blacks and Canadian Natives woke up to discover that "while they were not exactly slaves, they were pariahs in the lands of their births." (Sol Plaatje, Native Life in South Africa, pg. 21, 1916)

Originally posted by HomoSapiensSapiens
It is said that many, many White South Africans supported Apartheid? Is this true? Discuss.

Well, you can look back at the many elections in which the National Party of South Africa was voted in, and the demographics. There were people of all colors who stood up for freedom and spoke out against the injustices of apartheid in South Africa, but it is a matter of historical fact that the majority of white south africans had voted in the parties that enforced the Apartheid rule. It was only in the early 90's that this all changed.

As a person who grew up during the apartheid years I can categorically say YES, many white South Africans did support the policy! But without trying to sound smug about it it was a "certain language" sector of the white population which did so. Many of us who grew up in english households did not support it but there was almost no "white resistance" to it as you would have been blacklisted much as during the McCarthy (sp?) era in the States. I as a young man in South Africa and then Namibia had anti-apartheid stickers on my car and also stickers against being forced into the South African military to fight against the "black enemy", my family were terrified that they would become targets of the then Apartheid regime just because of my visible anti-apartheid stance!
I am expecting to be lambasted by some members of ATS who belong the other "white language group" in South Africa but stand by my statement on the divisions that existed not only between white and black South Africa but also between the english and afrikaans population of South Africa at the time! MUCH though has changed since then in Namibia, which was basically a South African colony, and also in South Africa!
I would just like to add that I was a just very young child child when the anti-apartheid regime came into power!

I just registered here on ATS and saw this about Apartheid. I am a white afrikaans speaking South African. I was born in the early 80's when apartheid was still in full swing, however I was born into a Christian Liberal family which means I was taught from an early age to respect everyone as equals. I however from an early age also realized even my liberal parents was a bit racist. I for instance once told my parents I wanted ask a colored girl out on a date and they almost went berserk, citing that it's not christian to mix races, well off course it was also illegal at the time.

I can with absolute certainty say that all Afrikaans South Africans were indoctrinated from an early age that black people were inhuman barbarians and that they are the enemy, then 1994 happened and well things haven't really changed I still see everyday how racist people can be. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was put in place after 1994 to right the wrongs of the past, however not even that helped much.

So I can understand why the supposed rainbow nation haven't yet connected as a nation, but I must say that small changes are starting to happen especially with the born frees (people born after 1994). I mean with the born frees you are starting to see what a real rainbow nation can actually be like and I pray for the day that Mandela's vision of a Rainbow Nation actually comes true.

South Africa is a great country and I can't wait to see a future were All South Africans can be seen as one Nation

reply to post by Brendanvd1


Welcome to ATS, enjoy! Welkom en geniet!

Yes,many,many white people did support Apartheid,unfortunately,even if only by never questioning,thinking for themselves.I can only give my perspective from the age of 5,which would be 1970.Thats when i noticed that my adoptive mother feared black the black population,and it may be that her fear caused her dislike of them.When i asked her at age 5,why she didnt like blacks,she said: "Because there are so many of them-and all of them hate us whites,they would kill us all given half the chance" So whatever nonsense propaganda she+many other adults was raised on,worked.Now,i was a "different" sort of child,i didnt trust adults to know best,or even better,for some reason-idk why,thats just the way i was wired.I thought it was wrong to assume,and told her so,which made me even less popular with her,but thats btw.I was reading magazines that dealt with the political matters of the day from the age of 9/10,and the daily papers,and tried to get the "real picture" from there.For children and young people,it was the system we were born into-just the way things were,so my peers never questioned it-but i did.It seemed illogical and downright crazy,from the age of 5 when i could make up my own mind about things-to fear and hate/dislike a group of people you have NO contact with or true practical experience with.Insane.And there were many whites who felt the same,though maybe not from young childhood,but as they got a bit older.For instance,Hein Grosskopf,the guy who planted the Pretoria car bomb that killed many personnel working for the Defense Dept,was white,yet he did this as an anti-apartheid-Guvment statement.The whites who felt the same as me,could'nt very well speak up for their beliefs in most cases,especially during the 60's and 70's-they'd be ostracised and rejected,judged as a commie even-it would've been social+professional suicide.Lemme go to next post,im on my cell,can't paragraph.

Part 2 of my reply:I would say,i identify more with the lives and reality of black people in my country,and always have.I instinctively have a gag reflex re any form of discrimination and unfairness-it makes me see red,and i get this huge sick wave of hopelessness and misery for the entire human race when i encounter it,always have,always will.Also,i UNDERSTAND black people in a way few whites can,because:1) i grew up poor+disenfranchised too(poor whites were a looked-down-on minority too,a fact not many may realise) 2)i was treated with contempt,unfairness,and suffered much abuse from earliest childhood,including physical,so i got That part of it 3)I knew very well how it felt to be treated as inferior and unworthy of liking, love or opportunities,written off as unimportant and amounting to nothing,because i was perceived as "different" and i guess i was.Still,it gave me a more personal insight into the often difficult life of black people.I knew what it was to be considered a second-class citizen.I had the instinctive hatred for discrimination,my life i had to live,gave me empathy and much understanding.Why i say this,is to explain that i may not have the typical white SAfrican perspective on this,due to my own wiring,and a life that was different from most whites,so i dont know if my view is one you'd find useful.Anyway,my father was'nt racist,as a matter of fact,one of his best friends was a black man named Michael.So i was more exposed to my mother fear-based racism.She never even had 1 conversation with a black person,but she was convinced they all had a desire to see us whites all dead.I was born into a system that i found senseless,and my generation for the most part didnt question it.My impression is:FEAR was used as a tool to construct and maintain the apartheid system for as long as it went on,and it worked exceedingly well.Yes a lot of whites fell for it,i would say the majority,and thus supported apartheid policy,but there were some who did not.Maybe many,who were too afraid to speak out.Strange thing,the mostly rich English-speaking liberals who were rabid for Apartheid to be dismantled-WHEN THEIR WET DREAM WAS ABOUT TO BECOME REALITY-MAJORITY OF THEM PACKED FOR,AND PISSED OFF TO PERTH.OR ANYPLACE BUT HERE.The hated Afrikaners are Still here.Go figure..Part 3 follows.

Part 3-present day.After 1994,we now have a black government,which would've and could've been great.had it not been the ANC.I love my country,and Africa,with all my heart.I love people who are decent,kind and take others lives+rights into consideration-of ALL races,genders,religions+sexual orienations.I AM NOT IMPRESSED WITH THE ANC GOVERNMENT THOUGH-only a cretin would be,or those so wealthy that they're untouchable.They are inept and corrupt,and even after 2 decades,apartheid still gets the blame for their ineptitude,for everything that goes wrong.Crime is a VERY serious problem,rape is the national sport.An overly hasty implementation of Affirmative Action led to untrained people being appointed solely on the basis of their being black individuals,which has had a very bad effect on overall re service delivery in most sectors,catastrophic in the medical sector.There's the genocide of the white farmers-it is the most dangerous job in the world now,i believe.BUT i have much hope for my country still,and we do now live in a much more authentic society.I myself have never had problems with black people,or any one of another race,au contraire.My children are growing up having black kids as friends.Two of the dearest friends i ever had,both for years of friendship,are black.Now if the ANC government could crack down on crime,and stop condoning "struggle songs" like "Kill The Boer,Kill the Farmer" it would go a long way to making this country great, and safer for all its citizens.Strange,i love my country so deeply,but im Still a 2nd class citizen,first as a poorwhite,now just as a white.HOWEVER,that is because of the ANC,Definitely not because of individuals of any race.On ground level,between average people,you'll find the state of the nation in the middle:NOT A SYRUPSWEET NIRVANA AS IN THE ADS,NOT THE HORROR THE FEARMONGERS MAKE IT OUT TO BE.In the middle is where you'll find people trying to just make a life for them+their families,with the overwhelming problem+grave concern :Crime,and a government that is either unwilling or unable to crack down on it and improve the dire crime situation.THAT is our biggest problem,as long as this remains unaddressed,my country is suffering,and will remain so.

Of course they did, that's human nature - the fear of the unknown giving the side of the known the status quo. Whites were greatly outnumbered, and heard the radicals talking about killing whites, raiding farms, etc. Few probably expected the relatively calm transistion to Nelson Mandela and his humane policies towards everyone in South Africa, or they would have let him out of prison years earlier. It was a ride that had to be taken, and the white population had to learn to trust the blacks in power.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000

Hey there,Wrabbit.Im always wondering though,where are the voices of the celebrities against Crime in my country,and my government doing little or nothing to curtail it? Against the genocide of the farmers,which is going to lead to famine via the death of our agricultural sector?Charlize Theron spoke out against rape,she made a controversial TV ad campaign of that-but where are all the others NOW? Even if their reckoning is that white Afrikaans farmers/people got what was coming to them- unaffordable food and outright famine dont respect skin color.And thats where this could well lead.The Chinese say if you save a life,you are responsible for it.If you help to usher in a change of government,and you have the means,the voice and the global audience-does'nt your conscience bother you,when thousands upon thousands of people are "genocided" without said government doing a solitary thing to stop it? WHERE'S NELSON MANDELA,IN THIS? WHY HAS HE NEVER TRIED TO STOP THIS?WHERE'S BONO+ALL THE REST NOW?? Is it a case of such a crusade not being pc or trendy enough? Or could it really be that they never cared much either way,and they used this whole anti-apartheid platform as a good- publicity tool?Or does "white lives" not count? I get the feeling that they are a bunch of self-serving hypocrites! Wrabbit,the rant is'nt aimed at you.Its against people who will fight for the rights of one group-while completely ignoring the genocide of another.

I agree that celebs must be more vocal about crime it is a big problem for the whole country, but saying that farm attacks only targets whites is part of the problem because that is not true there are countless non-white farm workers that also get murdered in these attacks and well the media and Farming Communities only emphasize the white murders.

Until it's emphasized that this is a South African problem and not a white problem celebs won't come near the subject. We have to come together as South Africans and fight crime together instead of making this a race issue.