Segregation is a concept as old as time and is not unique to the United States. South Africa still suffers from the effects of a government-enforced and organized system of segregation called apartheid that lasted for over a quarter of a century. Apartheid, literally translated from Afrikaans, means separation (Mandela 40). It is defined as a policy of racial segregation and “political and economic discrimination against non-European groups in the Republic of South Africa” (“Apartheid”). According to Robin Cohen, South African apartheid was based on four fundamental premises: “the white monopoly of political power, the manipulation of space to achieve racial segregation, the control of black labor, and urban social control” (qtd. in Massie 385 ). Apartheid was widely supported by powerful nations, including the United States. However, the validity of the arguments and actions used by those supporters were questionable and not based on facts. History The following brief history of South African apartheid is essential to understanding the full picture. 1940s apartheid began as implicit law in the seventh century with the start of the slave trade in which approximately 25 million blacks were sold into slavery over a period of 12 centuries (Stock 65). However, it was not until 1948 that the South African government actually passed the apartheid laws (“Timeline”). The Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act of 1949 strictly prohibited people of different races from marrying and having children (Stock 21). The 1950s The 1950s were the era of Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd, Minister of Native Affairs and, later, Prime Minister of South Africa. The Population Registration Act of 1950 required that all persons be designated and registered as a specific race: white, black, or of mixed descent, deemed to be colored (“History”). This designation was based primarily on appearance, often using the “pencil in the hair” test. Officials would start by placing a pencil in a person's hair. If the hair was curly enough to support the pencil while bending, the person was black, and if the pencil fell off, the person was colored (Massie 21). In 1951 the homelands, or bantustans (“Timeline”) were established. The homelands were South Africa's equivalent to American reservations. Blacks, who had no rights outside of their h...... middle of paper ...... Brary, Powell, WY. November 7, 2004. “Allied with Apartheid: Reagan Supported Racist South African Government.” Democracy now. June 11, 2004. Lexis Nexis. NWC Library, Powell, WY. November 7, 2004. “Apartheid.” Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. 10th ed. 1994.Geyer, AL “The case of apartheid, 1953”. Handbook of modern history. August 19, 1953. EBSCOhost. NWC Library, Powell, WY. November 7, 2004. "The History of Apartheid in South Africa." Stanford students. 7 November 2004. “Justice for South Africa: Paying the Debt.” TransAfrica Forum. 2004. Lexis-Nexis Library.NWC, Powell, WY. November 7, 2004.Mandela, Nelson. Mandela: An Illustrated Autobiography. Boston: Little Brown Company. 1994.Massie, Robert K. Losing Ties: The United States and South Africa in the Apartheid Years. New York: Bantam. 1997.Stock, Robert. Africa south of the Sahara. New York: The Guliford Press. 1995. “Timeline of South African Apartheid.” Northstar K-12. November 7. 2004.