apartheid

/ə'pɑ:thaid/
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Definition
  1. Noun:
    • A system of institutionalized racial segregation and discrimination: "apartheid" refers specifically to the former official policy in South Africa (1948-1994) that enforced a strict legal separation of different racial groups, granting political and economic supremacy to the white minority.
    • Any similar system of segregation: By extension, the term can describe any policy or practice of separating people based on race or ethnicity, especially when it involves political and legal discrimination.
Usage Examples
  • Noun:
    • Nelson Mandela spent 27 years in prison fighting against apartheid.
    • The apartheid regime in South Africa created separate public facilities for different racial groups.
    • The novel explores the psychological impact of growing up under apartheid.
Advanced Usage
  • "The crime of apartheid": In international law, this phrase refers to inhumane acts committed in the context of an institutionalized regime of systematic oppression and domination by one racial group over another.

    • The United Nations has declared apartheid a crime against humanity.
  • "Academic apartheid" / "Economic apartheid": These are metaphorical uses of the term to describe severe, systemic segregation or exclusion in non-political contexts.

    • Critics accused the university of practicing a form of academic apartheid by underfunding certain departments.
Variants and Related Words
  • Anti-apartheid (adj): Opposed to the policy of apartheid.

    • The anti-apartheid movement gained global support in the 1980s.
  • Post-apartheid (adj): Referring to the period in South Africa after the end of apartheid (post-1994).

    • Post-apartheid South Africa faces the challenge of reconciling its divided past.
Synonyms
  • Segregation: The action or state of setting someone or something apart from others. (A broader, more general term).
  • Racial discrimination: Unjust treatment of people based on their race.
  • Jim Crow laws: (Historical, U.S. context) State and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the Southern United States.
Related Phrases
  • "The legacy of apartheid": The long-lasting social, economic, and psychological effects that persist after the official policy has ended.

    • The country is still grappling with the legacy of apartheid.
  • "Apartheid-era": Used as an adjective to describe something from the time when apartheid was in effect.

    • The museum displays apartheid-era propaganda posters.
Noun
  1. a social policy or racial segregation involving political and economic and legal discrimination against people who are not Whites; the former official policy in South Africa