Racism vs. Ignorance

The anti Apartheid Movement and the Civil Rights Movement are eerily similar. In a very similar time frame, blacks of both countries fought their white oppressors in search of freedom and equal rights. Both African Americans and black South Africans were treated with hate and disgust for unapparent reasons. However, I believe the whites in these two countries had different mind sets during this period.
In Apartheid South Africa, the discrimination of blacks turned extremely ugly with the discovery of gold and diamonds. The Europeans took advantage of the blacks to further their well being and wealth. As racist as Apartheid was, it was mainly the doing of the European government and police.
This government used propaganda to influence their fellow European citizens. The government was extremely racist with theirs ideas, policies, and treatment of black South Africans. However, regular European citizens, I believe, were somewhat ignorant. They did not really know the exact situation of blacks, and the fact that they lived in separate locations helped the government blind the rest of the public from the realities of Apartheid. The everyday European understood that Apartheid was furthering their social status, but they did not understand the degree of which violence was used against the blacks.
Mrs. Styne, one of our lectures, helped me to come up with this understanding. She lived in South Africa during the Apartheid and was a white person, blinded by the European governments propaganda. She studied in America and did some research concerning Apartheid, and was not only disgusted, but she was blown away. I found this very amazing and helped me understand the situation of many white South Africans during this time period.
Unfortunately, the reality of the Civil Rights movement period was far from that of South Africa. African Americans were treated in very similar ways compared to black South Africans. However, this was not only by the government and police.
Everyday white Americans treated blacks with hatred and disgust and alienated them, along with the government and police. I believe this situation made it much harder on African Americans during this time. Like black South Africans, the enemies of African Americans were the government and police. However, in addition to these enemies, African Americans were forced to hate their white counterparts. Fortunately, not all white Americans acted with hate towards blacks, but many did.
This idea is disturbing and something I never though about until today. White South Africans were the minority during Apartheid and could be said to have been prejudice against blacks, but they did not fully understand the situation, except for those with the power who were making laws. In the United States, whites were the majority and were extremely racist. Whites knew exactly what was happening and furthered the hatred, instead of trying to do something about it.
I find it interesting to link these parallels. As horrible as many people think the actions of Europeans were during the Apartheid, I think those of white Americans during the same period were far worse.