Apartheid

Apartheid, a state-sponsored policy of discrimination and segregation, was introduced and brutally enforced in South Africa for more than forty years. It led to thousands of deaths, mass arrests, torture of prisoners, and to the suspension of the most basic human rights for the majority of black South Africans. How did this come to be, and how did a modern state come to enact and enforce a series of laws deliberately designed to ensure poverty and lack of opportunity for the majority of its population?

This is the story of how apartheid came to exist and how it blighted the lives of millions of people. It is also the story of how internal and international revulsion at this policy gradually forced the government of South Africa to change. Apartheid came to be seen as fundamentally evil, and grassroots movements against it also helped to raise awareness of racism. It is now more than 25 years since the end of apartheid, but this policy still casts a long shadow over every multi-racial society.