I always knew that every country has their similarities just like every religion has similarities. Even though i knew this it still surprised me to learn about the reconstruction after the Civil War and the Apartheid. The Civil War occurred in the United States and Apartheid occurred in South Africa and I found it strange that even though they are miles apart that the events during reconstruction were amazingly similar with very few differences.
One thing in particular that is shockingly similar is the fact that racism still exists after the reconstruction. The U.S. had the white supremacists and the KKK which were groups of people who didn't want the African Americans around and believed that they all meant trouble. South Africa had groups that forced them out of the white neighborhoods because they supposedly caused just as much trouble.
Another similarity is the fact that their rights were stripped from them. In both aspects, they lost both the right to be able to own land and the right to be able to vote. They even had their separate toilets, restaurants, and even stores. They weren't even allowed the right to education. It's scary that this was a world renown problem.
There are very few differences. In fact I can count them on one hand. First of all South Africa's reconstruction took 40 years which is a lot longer than America's reconstruction. South Africa had reconciliation counsels where as America did not. Plus South Africa's number one priority during reconstruction was education.
To me this lesson brought up a lot more questions than it did answers. If history repeats itself, then what's going to happen next? If South Africa's reconstruction plan was better, how did we end up on top? If we went through similar situations how is it that it gave us two different situations now? This lesson really made me think "What if ?"
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6 comments:
Wow, at first I was suprised to see that I'm about to be the first one commenting on your blog because I thought it was great and I expected others to comment on it. Anyway, I really enjoyed reading your blog. You included alot of similarities between US Reconstruction and the Apartheid. I agreed with your statement that segregation and racism still exists after the two major events. I agreed with everything you said...especially about learning from the past. South Africa should have fared better after the Apartheid because it happened very recently compared to the US after the Civil War. Yet, we had more than 100 years to improve and the South Africa had far less time to do that. So... anyway, nice blog!
It really is weird how the period of Reconstruction in the U.S. and South Africa's Apartheid were more dissimilar than similar. In both cases, blacks were deprived of their human rights, including the right to vote and own land. Education for black Africans and African Americans were both nearly impossible for years. It is pretty pitiful that it took more than 100 years for American society to drastically improve their overall race relations.
Just like the other blog you posted this one was really well written and helped me get "up to speed". I also realized that the info from the blogs can help with the upcoming project thats due. I agree with the questions that you brought up. Especially, the one you asked about if Africa was better or doing better how did we end up on top. Also, I would like to know why it took Africa 40 years. That seems like a pretty long time to work things out.
nice blog. i was amazed on how you compare and contrast the Reconstructions between South Africa and America. I agree with you when you said that the blacks in both America and South Africa lost their rights as the citizens during the Reconstructions but then they both gained equality as well. This is the positive part of the Reconstructions. Keep it up!
This might be one of the best blogs so far if not the best. Your comparison of United States reconstruction and South African apartheid made it easier for me as the reader to understand what was going on in both conflicts.
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