Segregation is a concept as old as time, and it is not unique to the United States. South Africa still suffers from the effects of a government-mandated, organized system of segregation called apartheid that lasted for more than a quarter of a century. Apartheid, literally translated from Afrikaans, means isolation (Mandela 40). It is defined as a policy of racial segregation and “political and economic discrimination against non-European groups in the Republic of South Africa” (“Apartheid”). According to Robin Cohen, South African apartheid was based on four fundamental principles: "white monopoly of political power, manipulation of space to achieve racial segregation, control of black labor, and urban social control" (quoted in Massia 385). Apartheid was widely supported by powerful nations, including the United States. However, the validity of the arguments and actions used by these supporters were questionable and not based on fact. History The following brief history of South African apartheid is essential to understanding the whole picture. the slave trade where approximately 25 million black people were sold into slavery over a period of 12 centuries (Stock 65). However, it was not until 1948 that the South African government actually passed apartheid laws ("Timeline"). The Prohibition of Intermarriage Act of 1949 strictly prohibited people of different races from marrying and having offspring (Stock 21). The 1950s The 1950s were the era of Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd, Minister of Native Affairs and then Prime Minister of South Africa. The Population Registration Act of 1950 required all people to be designated and registered by a specific race: white, black, or of mixed ancestry, considered colored ("History"). This designation was primarily based on appearance, often through the "pencil in hair" test. Officials would begin by placing a pencil in a person's hair. If the hair was curly enough to hold the pencil while bending, the person was black, and if the pencil fell, the person was colored (Massie 21). In 1951, homelands, or bantustans, were established (“Timeline”). The homelands were the South African equivalent of American reserves. Black people, who had no rights outside of their environment...... middle of paper ......brary, Powell, WY. November 7, 2004. “Allies to Apartheid: Reagan Supported Racist South African Govt. » Democracy now. June 11, 2004. Lexis Nexis. NWC Library, Powell, Wyoming. November 7, 2004. “Apartheid.” Merriam Webster Collegiate Dictionary. 10th ed. 1994. Geyer, AL “The Case for Apartheid, 1953.” Modern History Sourcebook. August 19, 1953. EBSCO host. NWC Library, Powell, Wyoming. November 7, 2004. “The History of Apartheid in South Africa.” » Stanford students. 7 November 2004. “Justice for South Africa: Paying the Debt.” TransAfrica Forum. 2004. Lexis-Nexis Library.NWC, Powell, WY. November 7, 2004. Mandela, Nelson. Mandela: an illustrated autobiography. Boston: Small, Brown Company. 1994. Massie, Robert K. Losing the Connections: The United States and South Africa during the Apartheid Years. New York: bantam. 1997. Stock, Robert. Africa south of the Sahara. New York: The Guliford Press. 1995. “Timeline of South African Apartheid.” North Star K-12. November 7. 2004.