New identities: Human rights for all
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was adopted by the United Nations Organisation (UNO) in 1948. It is the basis for human rights protection and promotion around the world.
In the same year that the UDHR was accepted at the UNO in 1948, the National Party came to power in South Africa. They put into practice the racist policy of Apartheid under which black South Africans were denied basic human rights. The system of apartheid clearly did not meet the standards set by the UDHR. The Apartheid government did not sign the UDHR, and Apartheid was later declared a Crime against Humanity by the UNO.
In South Africa under Apartheid, people who lived within South Africa’s borders were taught that they were different because they had different skin colours. Laws were applied which benefited whites, and oppressed blacks. There was no common sense of national unity.
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After the 1994 democratic election in South Africa, a new non-racial constitution was drawn up. It includes a Bill of Rights, and is based on the UDHR.
“ We, the people of South Africa,
recognise the injustices of the past;
honour those who suffered for justice and freedom in our land;
respect those who have worked to build and develop our country; and
believe that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, united in our diversity”
A challenge for the democratic government is to create a new national identity from a divided legacy of division and discrimination.
However, racial discrimination continues to be part of South Africa in some ways today. The Chairman of the SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), Jody Kollapen said as recently as March, 2008:
"I think the challenge is to transcend the sense that we have over our blackness and our whiteness...I think it requires hard work and I think it requires ordinary people to speak to each other."
Outside link :You can read the full article called ‘Racism alive and well in South Africa’ on this link: http://www.thetimes.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=724846