Word: klerk
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...been to support Uncle Toms. De Klerk has publicly praised Black leaders who prefer gradual desegregation policies. After meeting with several Black evangelical leaders, for example, de Klerk was quoted as saying, "They told me that radicalism is representative of a small minority of the total black population and that the vast majority of all black South Africans are striving for moderate solutions...
Evangelicals, in fact, comprise merely one-fourth of the 28 million Blacks in South Africa. Representing a religious--but not necessarily a political--constituency, the evangelicals told de Klerk what he wanted to hear, and what he wanted to repeat to whites in his country...
Traditionally, the ANC has served as the primary anti-apartheid organization in South Africa. De Klerk, however, is trying to undermine the ANC's influence by dividing and conquering South African Blacks. His request that different Black groups become involved in the shaping of a new constitution is not an attempt at inclusion, but rather an effort to highlight the differences between these groups on desegregation and make the ANC look uncooperative...
These supporters of apartheid have leaned away from even superficial reforms, complaining that any compromise with the Blacks is a sellout. When De Klerk opened public beaches to all South Africans, for instance, right leaders called the move "intolerable...
...political might of the right wing cannot be underestimated. Former presidents of South Africa have been completely unable to control this constituency, and they have always feared the political repercussions of concessions. But de Klerk realizes he must alienate the right, and he is downplaying the consequences of doing...