THESEGREGATIONERA
constitution was dominated by the question of relations between the two
segments of the white population-Afrikaners
and English-speakers.
Should they forget the past, reconcile their differences, and work together
to form a single white South African "nation," or should each ethnic
community struggle to control the political system as a means of advancing
its particular interests? Though this question was usually posed in ethnic
terms, it also had a class' basis. In the early twentieth century, people of
British origin virtually monopolized the entrepreneurial, managerial, and
skilled positions in every sector ofthe economy except agriculture, whereas
many Afrikaners were impoverished. Known as Poor Whites, they were
being driven off the land as agriculture became capitalized, and they were
finding it difficult to adapt to the urban economy, except as unskilled
workers, where they were liable to encounter competition from Blacks. In
practice, no government could afford to ignore the needs of the Afrikaners,
since they formed more than 55 percent of the electorate. By 1948, as a
result of industrial growth, pervasive color bars, and state aid, white pover-
ty was being phased out and individual Afrikaners were getting a foothold