THEAPARTHEIDERA
Apartheid
The National party government applied apartheid in a plethora of laws
and executive actions.f At the heart of the apartheid system were four ideas.
First, the population
of South Africa comprised four "racial groups"-
White,
Coloured,
Indian,
and African-each
with its own inherent
culture. Second, Whites, as the civilized race, were entitled to have absolute
control over the state. Third, white interests should prevail over black
interests; the state was not obliged to provide equal facilities for the subor-
dinate races. Fourth, the white racial group formed a single nation, with
Afrikaans- and English-speaking components, while Africans belonged to
several (eventually ten) distinct nations or potential nations-a
formula
that made the white nation the largest in the country.
Soon after coming to power in 1948, the government began to giveeffect
to those ideas. The Population Registration Act (1950) provided the ma-
chinery to designate the racial category of every person. Its application led
to the breaking up of homes; for example, where one parent was classified
White and the other was classified Coloured. The Prohibition of Mixed
Marriages Act (1949) and the Immorality Act (1950) created legal bound-