Word: apartheid
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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South Africa is at a crossroads. For the first time since the National Party came to power in 1948 and began introducing the laws of apartheid, or separateness, there exists a widespread acceptance of the need to change. With the exception of a diehard minority, most of South Africa's 5 million whites have gradually resigned themselves to the fact that they cannot continue forever to dominate 26 million blacks politically, economically and socially. Blacks, who have fought so ineffectually for almost 80 years, have come to feel that their long struggle has not been in vain. In the climate...
...with almost mythic stature. Imprisoned for life for sedition, unseen and largely unheard from for more than 27 years, he is somehow expected to lead South Africa to salvation. But can any man perform that miracle? Is South Africa really ready to be led out of the wilderness of apartheid into the promised land of . . . of what? The black dream of a nonracial democratic society -- in short, black rule? Or something less, a revision of the old system in which white power would not be transferred but only shared, in effect preserving white rights and privileges...
...indicate that he has accepted the job of wresting tangible results from this moment of opportunity. For three years Mandela has held periodic meetings with a team of government officials, and since November he has had sessions with Cabinet ministers as well as almost daily talks with anti-apartheid leaders to try to find a common meeting ground. The 71-year-old prisoner, still tall and distinguished looking, his smooth face barely lined, his black hair just flecked with gray, greets each visitor with a smiling embrace...
When he is freed, Mandela will walk out into a world vastly different from the strict apartheid society he vowed to overthrow. Starting with then Prime Minister P.W. Botha's warning in 1979 that whites must "adapt or die," the idea of changing national institutions and the realization that power should be shared with the black majority have moved into the mainstream. That change of attitude has been given real impetus in the five months since De Klerk was elected to succeed Botha. With a speed that surprised almost everyone, the new and little-known President made a series...
...years away, apartheid has acquired a more presentable face. The humiliating restrictions of petty apartheid have largely faded away. A sizable black middle class has sprung up, bringing with it consumer power that has not escaped the notice of white merchants. "Buppies" live in handsome Soweto neighborhoods like Diepkloof and drive their BMWs to work each day. Black businessmen make deals over lunch at trendy restaurants while being served by scurrying white waiters. Compared with blacks on the rest of the continent, many in South Africa live well. More, of course...