THE EUROPEANS GRAEME WILLIAMS
THE EUROPEANS GRAEME WILLIAMS
THE EUROPEANS
Now, twenty years after the end of apartheid, the history of South Africa is once again being re-defined. Monuments built to celebrate yesteryear heroes are being defaced or removed, textbooks are being re-written and there are calls to remove white representatives from universities and cultural institutions. During the Colonial era the narrative of Africa’s past was forged from the ideas and perspectives of Europeans. The Afrikaner-led National Party won a majority vote during the 1948 whites-only election in South Africa and it swiftly introduced extreme racially based legislation that formed the basis of the apartheid system. Whites (Europeans) had special privileges, while country’s majority (non-Europeans) were forced to become second-class citizens. During this period the historical record became one that celebrated Afrikaner culture. The Europeans is a collage of snapshots taken by people living in South Africa whose ancestry was of European origin. The found images were made during an era of white power and privilege. Although the book focuses on a particular stage in South Africa’s past, it highlights, in more general terms, the absurdity of trying to define a country by a finite set of racial, cultural or political ideals.
1953 Forced segregation in all public amenities, public buildings, and public transport with the aim of eliminating contact between whites and other races. “Europeans Only” and “Non-Europeans Only” signs were put up. The act stated that facilities provided for different races need not be equal. Reservation of Separate Amenities Act, Act No 49
2015 ...Do not be naive about the mind of the white person. It has been taught since birth to believe in its superiority and to believe that the Afrikan child must labour and toil so wealth and power can drop into their hands like rain from heaven. The European is not your friend. The liberal European might pretend to be your friend and might even contrive to denigrate themselves in front of you to show they belong among Afrikans. When the powerful turn their guns on you, that person will leave you behind...... Column, City Press Newspaper