And They Didnt Die essays

And They Didnt Die essays In her novel And They Didnt Die, Lauretta Ngcobo gives us a glimpse of the life of a South African woman during the Apartheid Era (1950s-1980s). The human rights efforts of African women had a long lasting and far-reaching effect on the future cultural climate of South Africa. They fought back against the unjust laws that had permeated their country. Were they successful? What price did they pay? Ngcobo attempts to answer these questions in her novel. In order to understand the struggles of Jezile and other South Africans, it is necessary to know the history of their country. Discrimination against nonwhites was inherent in South African society from the earliest days. With the South Africa Act of 1910 the British parliament established the dominion of the Union of South Africa, with four colonies as its provinces. South African blacks had a low status in the white-dominated state. Urban blacks lived in segregated areas and could not hold office. They had no viable unions, and technical and administrative positions were closed to them. In 1914 the National Party was founded, which emphasized Afrikaner language and culture. By 1948 the all-white National Party came to power. Segregation and inequality between races had existed as a matter of custom and practice in South Africa, but after 1948 they were enshrined in law. The National Party won the general election that year in a coalition with the smaller Afrikaner Party. The United Party became the official opposition. The United Party mainly had an urban base with substantial support from English-speaking South Africans, while the National Party's support was drawn almost entirely from Afrikaans-speaking South Africans. At the heart of the National Party's legislative agenda was apartheid, Afrikaans for separateness, a doctrine of white supremacy promoted as a program of separate development. Once in power, the National Party extended and legaliz...