Definition
Apartheid, an Afrikaans word meaning apartness, was the official policy of racial segregation enforced by the South African government from 1948 until the early 1990s. It classified every person by race and used law to keep the white minority politically and economically dominant over the black majority and other groups.
Under apartheid, where people could live, work, study, travel, and marry was dictated by their racial classification. The system denied the majority population the vote and reserved power, land, and wealth for a privileged minority.
Why it matters
How it works
A segregation regime depends on classification, enforcement, and exclusion. The state defines categories of people, assigns rights and restrictions to each, and uses police, courts, and identity documents to keep the categories rigid. Resistance came from many directions at once: mass protest, civil disobedience, labor strikes, armed struggle, and international pressure. The combination raised the cost of maintaining the system until negotiation became the only viable path, ending in a transition to majority rule.