30% of the Population Was Able to Oppress over 70% of the Other Population
Essay Preview: 30% of the Population Was Able to Oppress over 70% of the Other Population
Report this essay
From what Ive learned about apartheid and from what Ive read in the novel I have learned how this system has been able to survive as long as it did. I saw how only less than 30% of the population was able to oppress over 70% of the other population. I also understand how the poor were set into a perpetual state of poverty and anger. Plus how it all tied in together to form a mass state of panic, fear, anger, hunger and distrust.
“So as a prelude whites must be made to realize that they are only human,
not superior. Same with Blacks. They must be made to realize that they are
also human, not inferior.” Stephen Biko
Stephen Biko said this to say that no one is superior or inferior because of skin color or race. Sadly this was not the case; in this society the white man had made all the rules and regulations like pass books. These forced black people into oppression and poverty. This process forced many blacks to do things that they would never have done before to survive. One example was that they opened up shebeens which the government had considered illegal. No black man was allowed to own any land either. As if these problems werent enough, the white man dominated government segregated everything from toilets to entire cities. But dont be fooled black people were allowed into the white cities but only if they would behave and work for white people for minimum wage. All of this combined with hate and a few other things, made people to believe that the white people were superior to every other race and the black people inferior to every other race.
The rich get richer and the poor black man got poorer in this society. Many blacks were unable to get proper jobs and this happened through the government making them carry pass books which they could not obtain without having jobs, but they could not get proper jobs without presenting a pass book.
“But Im not working,” I said.
“Then what do you need a pass for?”
“I need one to look for work.”
“You first find a job and then you apply for a pass.”
“But I cant hunt for a job without a pass!” Kaffir boy page 330
If black people did manage to get jobs, they got extremely low paying jobs which left them with no money to buy stuff that they would like to own. It barely gave them enough money to pay for their rent and buy the rice for their families. Some were lucky enough to make it into the elite black middle class though they were still unable to own land. Rich black people did not exist in this society.
Black people or Kaffirs (as referred to by the whites