Apartheid and Nelson Mandela

The word “Apartheid” was an Afrikaner word meaning “separate”. While the white minority enjoyed a very high standard of living, the black majority had a lower income, poor housing, little education and low life expectancy. Apartheid was a system of government in South Africa before Nelson Mandela. Some countries were angry about it and imposed trade sanctions. Others ignored it.

Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela was born in 1918. Nelson went to college and became a lawyer. He soon realized that the African National Party (ANP) was very cruel to black Africans. Nelson decided to try to change this. He joined a political party called  the African National Congress (ANC). He helped black people to protest about the situation, but he has was arrested and put in prison. In 1990, President de Klerk of South Africa ordered to free Nelson Mandela after 27 years. Mandela won the Nobel Peace Prize and then he became the first black African president of South Africa.