Jim Crow Laws in The United States and Apartheid in South Africa: A Political and Critical Analysis

Abstract

This paper gives us a glimpse into the early features that defined two racist and inhumane political systems: Jim Crow laws in the United States and Apartheid in South Africa. A broader understanding of these worlds should change how we view critical issues of race, segregation, and discrimination. In addition, this work provides insight about the long struggles of black people against white supremacy and hegemony on two, very different continents. Meaning, we can learn about the maddening and heinous crimes against humanity rendered by white supremacists in the United States and South Africa. In other words, racism, segregation, and discrimination played a central role in the harsh, political systems of both countries. Equally important, white supremacists in the United States and South Africa brutalized the black communities in both places, while feeling superior to all other ethnic groups. Of course, white supremacists always tried to hide their violence and sanitize the ugly truths of their respective governments. They also exerted their will on others, primarily for their own benefit, which triggered acrimony in both minority populations. This paper also exposes the underlying facts about the deprave actions of white supremacists who went too far in both societies against mostly black people — in the United States and South Africa. Meaning, both countries were enmeshed in the realm of horrifying inequality and racism. In the final analysis, we should be able to see clearly the striking similarities between the American Jim Crow laws and Apartheid system in South Africa with their white supremacy traditions.