Question 4 THE KEY IDEAS BEHIND THE MOVEMENT The apartheid
system as you may know was the oppressive system that the black African
community had to face. They had to face their subjugation, discrimination and
segregation. Hence, the South African Students Organisation was formed they had
the key fundamentals of Black Consciousness at its heart. Their belief of Black
Consciousness sought to make black Africans students and the majority of the
population of Africans have a say in the matters that concerned their living
conditions, and the treatment that they received under the apartheid system of
government. They realised that although both the white and black Africans
shared the same country it was as if they lived in different worlds altogether.
< STEVE BIKO SHOWN ON RIGHT (Primary Source, Photograph. Taken by public member) After the obliteration of organisations and
groups such as the ANC and the PNC, many students both black and white sought
to begin a new movement with the core principle of giving rights and freedoms
to the black community. Biko was the founding member for SASO and the BCM he
sought to bring all the black South Africans together and unite them and create
a united community which was the only way they could bring down the Apartheid
system, as he saw it. He believed that if the masses joined together and just
like him refused to bow down to the oppressive system and instead be proud when
saying 'I am black'. As a result not letting the Apartheid system shame them
and their culture, he wanted to break down the stereotypes so that people would
not see the black community as sub-humans.
Also
Biko's idea of a unified Black community was essential to the success of the
movement. This is because he realised the power that the individual groups held
in the resistance was holding but not winning. To bring a shift in the
perceptions against the black community he knew they had to work as a unified
front to overwhelm the system and fight the oppression of the Apartheid system,
a racist system. Finally he believed that a black government was needed to show
the masses that just because they are black it does not mean they are a subservient
race. This was primarily because a white government would never fully
understand the oppression which they endured. He believed that although the
help of some of the white community was obviously accepted and welcomed; they
never truly believed in the cause. It was always more of a 'look at me I'm so
good' sort of thing. They did it to make themselves feel better as demonstrated
by the analogy of working with the black community by day and at night going to
exclusive clubs with their white friends to brag about how great and kind they
are. Of course generalising is the wrong idea here but the fundamental issue
still exists.
For this
reason Biko believed that a black government was needed to overthrow the racist
roots that had been deeply embedded into the African society. Only this way
could the black community be recognised as humans, be given the rights they
deserve and be given the freedom that all enjoy. Nelson Mandela was the
influence for all of the Youth movements when he began the ANCYL, which was
later disbanded but in its wake came the other groups such as SASO. And as we
all know he is known as the father of democracy in South Africa as he strived
to break down all the barriers with his revolutionary ideas and with his title
of President.
PRIMARY SOURCE - Political Cartoon Drawn by Margaret Tabaka in 1964 Perspective - Unknown perspective, could be from native or non-native. Presents bias to one side Reliability - Unknown reliability. Presents bias, but author and time is known. Usefulness - Fairly useful as it tells us about how some individuals such as Mandela were imprisoned. Analysis - Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, other ANC leaders and Robert Sobukwe were placed in prison on an island close to Cape Town. Only family members an lawyers could visit them.
Question 5 HOW WIDESPREAD SUPPORT WAS AND THE CHALLENGES
PRIMARY SOURCE - Free Nelson Mandela Poster, made in the 1980s by unknown author
Perspective - Unknown Reliability - Not reliable as author and source is unknown Usefulness - Tells us about how widespread support was
Analysis - Poster during the 1980s
by an unknown author shows the gradual spread of support that built up over the
times.
There was a large civil
resistance by the South African’s in the Apartheid against the white people,
but some time before the Apartheid, before segregation became enforced in law,
the African National Congress was founded in 1912. Initially to combat the
problem it was using legal tactics to protest during its four decades. These
tactics included peaceful protests and also a non-militant direct action
campaign. Due to its peaceful nature not much attention was gained by those in
the country and those international.
Due to the lack of
support from their nonviolent campaign, Nelson Mandella and others part of the
ANC launched an armed uprising known as the “Spear of the Nation.” This was
limited to occasional bombings of government facilities, which was done at the
avoidance of any civilian deaths. This also did not prove to be successful and
it had little impact.
As shown by the events
above there was little spread of support for the ANC and those such as Nelson
Mandella within that organisation faced difficult challenges.
However others started
to notice the problem of the Apartheid in the 1970s. The main problem was that
the Apartheid was heavily reliant on black labour, such as the brick and tile
workers in 1973. These people performed a strike which severely threatened to
keep the South African economy growing. This proved successful as natives in
other parts of the South Africa also performed a similar strike. This resulted
in the “Soweto Uprising” in 1976 where many people, black and white were
killed.
The spread of support
increased in the 1980s, as the Black Consciousness Movement was formed (by
Steve Biko,) and a mass democratic movement merged in the 1980s with an
informal alliance between the ANC and other organisations, such as the United
Democratic Front and Congress of South African Trade Unions. They were calling
for a multiracial democracy.
An individual named
Mkhuseli Jack organised boycotts of white owned business in the city of Port
Elizabeth. They demanded the removal of white soldiers from their towns, access
to public facilities and an end to discrimination at work. The support and
impact was so large, a declaration of a State of Emergency was initiated to
prevent the Anti-Apartheid movement going forward. This resulted in more
strikes from more than three millions workers, severely affecting the economy
and industry.
Eventually due to all
this pressure the Apartheid was abolished. Through the use of updated
technology in the 1980s, which was not possible in the 1950s, the spread of
support for the movement was easily able to be communicated eventually
resulting in large amounts of external and internal pressure. This is the
reason why today Mandela is seen as a hero in South African history as he was
the revolutionary and philanthropist that assisted in abolishing the Apartheid.
He was the first Prime Minister elected in a fully representative democratic election,
in the year 1994.
PRIMARY SOURCE - Photograph Stored at PBS.org Archive, taken at unknown date Perspective - Sideline photographer on a peaceful protest. Minimal bias but it does just show one side. Reliability - Mediocre reliability. Unknown photographer or date. Lack of colour. However photograph is in original condition. Usefulness - Tells us about the protests and how widespread the support was for the Anti-Apartheid movement