How did South African Apartheid happen, and how did it finally end? - Thula Simpson

翻译人员: Leyu Jiang 校对人员: suya f.

On June 16th 1976,

1976年6月16日，

over 10,000 student protesters flooded the streets of Soweto, South Africa.

超过一万名学生抗议者涌入 南非索韦托 (Soweto) 的街道。

For 28 years, South Africans had been living under Apartheid,

28 年来，南非人一直 生活在种族隔离之下，

a strict policy of segregation that barred the country’s Black majority

种族隔离是一项严格的隔离政策，

禁止该国占多数

from skilled, high-paying jobs, quality education, and much more.

的黑人从事需要技能的、 高薪的工作、优质的教育等等。

And in 1974, the government announced schools would be forced to teach

1974 年，政府宣布学校 将被迫用南非荷兰语

many subjects in Afrikaans—

教授许多科目——

a language used primarily by the nation’s white ruling elites.

而南非荷兰语主要由 该国的白人统治精英使用。

But when protesters rose up to fight this injustice,

但是，当抗议者挺身而出 与这种不公正现象作斗争时，

the government's response was swift.

政府的反应是迅速的。

Armed police officers turned their weapons onto the crowd,

武装警察向人群开枪，

and over the following days they killed over 150 students,

在接下来的几天里 他们杀死了 150 多名学生，

including victims as young as 13.

其中包括年仅 13 岁的受害者。

Even before Apartheid, South Africa’s long history of racial violence

甚至在种族隔离之前， 南非悠久的种族暴力历史

had already cost countless Black Africans their jobs, homes, and lives.

就已经使无数非洲黑人 失去了工作、家园和生命。

Beginning in the 1600s,

从 1700 年代开始，

first Dutch and later British settlers colonized the nation,

首先是荷兰人，后来的英国 定居者殖民了这个国家，

displacing local populations from their ancestral lands.

并将当地居民 赶出了他们祖先的土地。

Over the following centuries,

在接下来的几个世纪中，

Black Africans were segregated onto so-called native reserves;

非洲的黑人被隔离 到所谓的原生保护区；

and by the 20th century, that meant 70% of the population

到 20 世纪， 这意味着 70％ 的居民

was living on roughly 13% of the country’s land.

生活在该国大约 13％ 的土地上。

Deprived of their traditional livelihoods

非洲黑人被剥夺了传统生计，

and seeking to escape these overpopulated regions,

试图逃离这些人口过剩的地区，

Black Africans began migrating to white-controlled areas.

他们开始移民到白人控制的地区。

There, they worked for low wages on white-owned farms and mines,

在那里，他们与来自 非洲和亚洲各地的被奴役的

alongside the descendants of enslaved and indentured workers

和契约工人的后代一起在白人 拥有的农场和矿山

from across Africa and Asia.

以低工资工作。

By 1948, this exploited labor force was a primary driver

到 1948 年，这种被剥削的劳动力

of South Africa’s booming economy.

已成为南非经济蓬勃发展的主要驱动力。

But economists argued that continued growth required a stable, educated,

但经济学家认为， 持续的增长需要稳定、受过教育

and urbanized African labor force.

和城市化的非洲劳动力。

The ruling United Party accepted this logic,

执政的联合党接受了这一逻辑，

but the rival National Party argued such a workforce

但竞争对手国民党认为，这样的劳动力

would threaten the white ruling class.

将威胁到白人统治阶级。

Naming their campaign Apartheid, the Afrikaans word for “separateness,”

国民党将他们的竞选活动

命名为种族隔离 (Apartheid)， 在南非荷兰语中意为“分离”，

the National Party won the 1948 elections.

并赢得了 1948 年的选举。

And once in power, they began forcibly relocating millions of Africans

掌权后，他们开始强行 将数百万非洲人重新安置

back to the reserves.

回到保护区。

Under Apartheid, Black workers were considered temporary visitors

在种族隔离制度下， 黑人工人被视为白人地区的

in white areas.

临时访客。

They were restricted to specific zones,

他们被限制在特定区域，

and their trade unions received no official recognition.

他们的工会不能得到官方承认。

The government also abolished mixed race universities,

政府还废除了混血大学，

outlawed mixed marriages, segregated recreational spaces,

宣布异族通婚为非法，隔离娱乐空间，

and purged the non-white population from the voters’ roll.

并将非白人人口从选民名单中清除。

Within parliament at this time,

当时在议会中，

Apartheid only had a small group of outspoken opponents.

种族隔离只有一小部分 直言不讳的反对者。

But outside the government,

但是在政府之外，

three political groups were leading a popular resistance against the regime:

有三个政治团体领导了 民众对该政权的抵抗：

the Communist Party, which was then legally banned in 1950,

共产党，该党随后 在 1950 年被法律取缔，

their allies in the African National Congress,

他们有在非洲人国民大会中的盟友，

and later, a splinter group called the Pan-Africanist Congress.

以及后来的一个名为 泛非主义者大会的分裂组织。

Despite some ideological differences,

尽管存在一些意识形态差异，

all three groups worked to mobilize the masses

但这三个团体都努力通过非暴力方法

against Apartheid by non-violent methods.

动员群众，反对种族隔离。

But the National Party wasn’t as restrained.

但是国民党却没有那么受限。

On March 21st, 1960, policemen massacred demonstrators at a PAC rally,

1960 年 3 月 21日，警察在 PAC 集会上屠杀了示威者，

and within weeks, the ANC and PAC were outlawed.

几周之内，非洲民族会议 和政治行动委员会被宣布违法。

These events radicalized anti-Apartheid leaders,

这些事件激化了反种族隔离的领导人，

and in December of 1961,

在 1961 年 12 月，

Nelson Mandela and other ANC and Communist Party activists

纳尔逊·曼德拉 (Nelson Mandela) 和其他非洲民族会议和共产党活动家

established the resistance’s armed wing.

成立了抵抗运动的武装派别。

While the conflict grew increasingly violent,

尽管冲突变得越来越激烈，

the 1960s saw consistent economic growth throughout South Africa.

但 20 世纪 60 年代， 整个南非的经济持续增长。

The National Party attributed this to the success of Apartheid,

国民党将其归因于种族隔离的成功，

but it was actually due to further exploitation.

但这实际上是由于进一步的剥削。

Employers were illegally hiring Black laborers

雇主非法雇用黑人劳工

for positions affluent white workers didn’t want to fill.

担任富裕的白人工人不想填补的职位。

And since this prosperity was flowing disproportionately

而且，由于这种兴旺不成比例地

to the ruling white minority,

流向了执政的白人少数民族，

the government happily turned a blind eye.

政府很乐意的地视而不见。

Meanwhile, the National Party leveraged global anti-communist sentiment

同时，国民党利用全球反共情绪

to demonize its adversaries.

妖魔化对手。

In 1963, they tried Mandela and ten others for advancing communism

1963 年，他们以推进共产主义 和在游击战中训练新兵为由

and training recruits in guerrilla warfare.

对曼德拉和其他十人进行了审判。

Eight of the defendants were sentenced to life in prison,

八名被告被判处无期徒刑，

and many remaining anti-Apartheid leaders were forced into exile.

许多剩余的反种族隔离领导人被迫流亡。

Over the next decade,

在接下来的十年中，

a generation of student activists rose up to continue the fight,

一代学生活动家挺身而出继续这场斗争，

led in part by Steve Biko and the South African Students Organization.

部分由史蒂夫·比科 (Steve Biko) 和南非学生组织领导。

Following the Soweto Massacre, student protesters spread nationwide.

索韦托大屠杀 (Soweto Massacre) 发生后，学生抗议者蔓延到全国。

But police violently smothered these demonstrations,

但是警方暴力镇压了这些示威活动，

killing over 600 protesters by early 1977.

到 1977 年初， 有 600 多名抗议者丧生。

That same year, Biko was taken into police custody

同年，比科 (Biko) 被警方拘留

and killed in a brutal assault.

并在一次残酷的袭击中丧生。

In response to this violence,

为了应对这种暴力，

the international community finally called for an end to Apartheid,

国际社会终于呼吁结束种族隔离，

with some countries enacting trade embargoes against South Africa.

一些国家对南非实施了贸易禁运。

The state attempted to launch a reform process,

该州试图启动改革进程，

creating separate parliaments for the country's white,

为该国的白人、非白人和印度人

non-white, and Indian populations.

设立单独的议会。

But the exclusion of the African majority led to more nationwide rioting.

但是，将占多数的非洲人 被排外导致了更多的全国性骚乱。

So when F.W. de Klerk, a long-time supporter of Apartheid,

因此， 当长期支持种族隔离的 弗雷德里克·威廉·戴克拉克（F.W. de Klerk）

came to power in 1989,

于 1989 年上台时，

he concluded the only way to ensure white survival was to end the policy.

他得出结论，确保白人生存 的唯一方法是终止种族隔离政策。

On February 2nd, 1990,

1990 年 2 月 2 日，

de Klerk shocked the world by unbanning the ANC,

德克勒克(Klerk) 解除了 对非国大的封禁，

releasing Mandela,

释放了曼德拉 (Mandela)，

and calling for constitutional negotiations.

呼吁进行宪法谈判，震惊了世界。

Four years later, in the nation’s inaugural all-inclusive elections,

四年后，在该国首次包容各方的选举中，

Mandela became South Africa’s first Black president.

曼德拉 (Mandela) 成为南非 第一位黑人总统。

But today, the national trauma of Apartheid can still be keenly felt,

但是今天，人们仍然可以敏锐地 感受到种族隔离带来的民族创伤，

and many wounds from this period have yet to fully heal.

同时这一时期的许多创伤尚未完全愈合。