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What was the anti-apartheid movement?

The anti-apartheid movement was an international effort to abolish (end) the decades-old system of racial segregation in South Africa. (The word apartheid means "separateness" in the South African language of Afrikaans.) Under apartheid, which was formalized in 1948 by the Afrikaner Nationalist Party, minority whites were given supremacy over nonwhites. The system further separated nonwhite groups from one another so that mulattos (those of mixed race), Asians (mostly Indians), and native Africans were segregated from whites. The policy was so rigid that it even separated native Bantu (black) groups.

Apartheid did not allow blacks to vote, even though they were the majority population. The system also was destructive to the society as a whole and drew protest at home and abroad. However, the South African government maintained the system, claiming it was the only way...

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