Apartheid Museum

A common sight in the townships during the latter part of apartheid (70-94) was military police vehicles like this one















Inside the apartheid museum- this is a room that describes the lives lost in the fight against apartheid including Steve Biko


























inside the apartheid museum some of the walls were set up to give you the impression you were in a prison


















This is San Rock Art made as a part of the spiritual warfare against the while colonists















San Rock Art









Horrible Quote right at the beginning og the apartheid museum



Last Saturday I went to the Apartheid Museum. This was quite a striking museum. I am still trying to take it all in. It is hard to believe that such a systematic oppression of human rights and dignity could have occurred over such a long period of time. It was a gripping experience to see the photos taken of the first riots in 1976 against the Bantu education system. This ugly instrument of humanity did not end with one riot. It was only in 1994 that this system came to an end. For nearly 50 yrs apartheid gripped the nation. This included the forced relocation of several black and colored communities to far outside the city. There were pass laws that would send people to jail if violated. The museum showed both those affected by apartheid as well as its instigators. To hear speeches justifying this system as merely being the means of being good neighbors disgusted me. It disgusted me because he made his language so stylistically pleasing and rational. He made it sound like something that could and was bought and believed by people throughout the country. They created their own neat worlds in these speeches where apartheid was not awful, but rather the necessary means for people to live together. Yet below this flowery rhetoric hid one of the most disgusting regimes in the history of man. The museum did a good job of making sure that people did not polarize around the issue of race. It portrayed the many white people who fought against this system. The effects of this system are still prevalent in society today. Crime in South Africa often is more than just petty theft. It often takes on a violent character. Someone will not just rob you, but they will also stab you. Don’t worry mom and Dad; I have been quite safe here. Within these next few days I hope to make my way to Soweto (South West Township) to get a better sense of the apartheid regime and contemporary South African life.