Cultural Immersion Project
Part 1 of 3
1. What are some key things you’ve learned about this culture through reading the scholarly literature?
I chose to do my Cultural Immersion Project on the multicultural challenges in the post- apartheid years for the Republic of South Africa. I had the privilege of visiting South Africa on two brief occasions, which led to a curiosity on the ethnic group status and how history has changed this status for the particular multicultural setting in which the Republic of South Africa is challenged with today. Through the research of scholarly literature, I was able to better understand the progression of the three primary social ethnic groups in the Republic of South Africa and how they were established during the progression of pre and post-apartheid years and how it has shaped who South Africa is today. I also was able to get an idea of the discrimination that took place between these three primary social ethnic groups.
To better explain the New Republic of South Africa, let me first begin by explaining the order of the pre- apartheid South Africa. There are three major classifications of people in South Africa: The White Afrikaner, The Coloureds, and the Black Tribal groups (Xhosa, Zulu, etc.). In the pre- apartheid era, the White Afrikaners were the smallest in number but held much of the political power and the majority of the money. The Coloureds, are a people of mixture from European heritage and the Black Tribal groups. The name “Coloured” is not considered a racial slur in South Africa, but a label of a people group who make up most of the middle class segments of South Africa. They are middle class citizens that have very little power in the political arena. The final group in the pre-apartheid years was the Black Tribal groups. This represents many of the familiar tribes, such as: Xhosa and Zulu. During the pre-apartheid years, the Black Tribal group was the lowest...