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apartheid

(20th century)

South African/Afrikaans theory of legally enforced racial separation.

Apartheid rested on the argument that racial distinctions were fundamental to the character of human societies, and that they were biologically based. Human beings should thus be categorized by race, and this categorization should be legally enforced in social, economic, and political affairs.

Races should not intermarry, be educated together, or live in the same areas. In practice apartheid was not a policy of racial segregation between blacks and whites, but a justification for a state enforced program of white supremacy. It was in effect, therefore, the application of theories of racism.

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