Accomplishments have no colour

Shruti Jha

“Accomplishments have no colour” says Leontyne Price, an Afro-American singer of the 1950’s, who lived in an era which witnessed the culmination of racism in the United States. The statement reflects something that even the most talented of her race went through. Race is a significant social issue largely because people use it as the basis for discrimination. The discrimination that can be traced today began from the era of colonialism. When Europeans began to colonise Africa and America, White settlers were of the opinion that they were superior to the other races. The notion that Africans and native Americans were inferior justified the Europeans taking land and enslaving people. This is how gradually racial discrimination became the basis of exploitation. Racism is the systematic practice of denying people access to rights, representation, or resources based on racial differences. Apartheid: Racism in South Africa Apartheid was a social and political policy of racial discrimination enforced by White minority governments in South Africa from 1948 to 1994. The term apartheid comes from 'apartness' This term was used in 1930s as a political slogan of the National Party in the early 1930s, but the policy itself extends back to the beginning of White settlement in South Africa in 1652. After the primarily Afrikaner nationalists came to power in 1948, the social custom of apartheid was systematized under law. The Population Registration Act of 1950 implemented this policy, which came to be known as 'separate development'. It segregated all the South Africans into three racial categories: Bantu – the Black Africans, Coloured – the mixed race and the Whites. Later, a fourth category, Asians – Indians and Pakistanis were also included in the list. Apartheid came into effect by a series of laws passed in 1950s. The Group Areas Act of 1950 assigned races to different residential and business sections in urban areas. The Lands Acts of 1954 and 1955 restricted non-White residents to dwell and move around only in specific areas. These laws also embed the White minority's control over 80% of the total land in South Africa. Social rendezvous between the different races was strictly prohibited. Public facilities to the non-Whites were severely curbed. There were standards of education and race-specific job-categories. The non-Whites had limited participation in the government too. The Bantu Authorities Act of 1951 and the Promotion of Bantu Self-Government Act of 1959 furthered these divisions between the races by creating ten African "homelands" administered by what were supposed to be reestablished as "tribal" organizations. The Bantu Homelands Citizenship Act of 1970 made every Black South African a citizen of one of the homelands, effectively excluding blacks from South African politics. Most of the homelands, lacking natural resources, were not economically viable and, being both small and fragmented, lacked the autonomy of independent states. The implementation of apartheid was accompanied by a lot of suppression, continuous resistance to apartheid prevailed in South Africa. A lot of Black political groups, often supported by sympathetic Whites, opposed apartheid by using different ways like violence, strikes, demonstrations. Ways that often met with severe reprisals by the government In the year 1961, South Africa was made to withdraw from the British Commonwealth by member states that were critical of the apartheid system. In 1985, the governments of the United States and Great Britain imposed selective economic sanctions on South Africa in protest against the apartheid system still followed there. In the 1990s, the South African government took strict measures to do away with the apartheid system, which had led to virtual isolation of their country. In the year 1994, the country's constitution was rewritten and free general elections were held. Nelson Mandela was elected as South Africa's first Black President. With this, the remaining traces of the apartheid system were eliminated. Racism in India Practice of racial discrimination was seen in India during the British rule British ruled India for almost two centuries. They were able to rule two-thirds of the subcontinent directly and exercise considerable leverage over the princely states that accounted for the remaining one-third. The English used the strategy of divide and rule most effectively. An important aspect of British rule was the psychological indoctrination of the creamy layer within Indian society whom they used to exploit the lower classes. The English educated Indian society was encouraged to mingle with them and through them the British looted wealth and exploited the lower class. Since independence India has come a long way. Though in our society the caste system still exists, caste rivalry is widespread in the society but discrimination on basis of colour is not prevalent. A dark cloud of racism still looms at large on the global front. To quote a recent example, popular Bollywood actress, Shilpa Shetty, who participated in the UK reality show called 'Big Brother" was subjected to racist attacks by fellow inmates in the Big Brother reality show house. Was this because she was an Indian? It is disappointing to see that such kinds of things still exist in our society. When, on one side the world is progressing in every field, hearing of discrimination on basis of colour, race etc is really disheartening besides materialistic progress; there must be progress in thought we need to complete our journey from prejudice to enlightenment.