Lessons and Activities on Apartheid
Adapted from the lessons from
Dana Garrison and William Bigelow
Activity 1: An Apartheid Simulation
Standard: SS7H1:
b. Explain how nationalism led to independence in South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria.
c. Explain the creation and end of apartheid in South Africa and the roles of Nelson Mandela and F.W.de Klerk.
Essential Question: How did ethnocentrism influence the treatment of the Bantu people in South Africa and set up a complete separation of the Bantu and the Afrikaner/British people in South Africa?
Materials: self-adhesive name tags, scrap paper, yarn, chart paper, markers, M&Ms (56 oz will cover 8 classes, 84 oz for 3 teams of 4 classes)
Part 1-Intro: (5 min) Have students define together what discrimination means, what it looks like, how it feels, etc. Also, discuss what segregation means, what it looks like, how it feels, etc. See how much they know about the US’s Civil Rights Movement. (Prior knowledge)
Part 2-Segregation Simulation: (Set up/segregate into groups and students read the basic instructions: 15 min. Running the activity: 20 min)
1. Before class: using painter or masking tape, outline a small space designated for the Bantu (approximately 20% of the room) a small space for “jail”, and the rest of the room is designated for the Afrikaner/British. Make sure to make the Bantu space away from the door, pencil sharpener, trash can, and anything else useful.
2. Identify a way to separate students. (Suggestion: students choose out of a paper bag a poker chip. 30 students = 4 chips of one color representing the minority Afrikaner/British population, 26 chips of a different color representing the majority Bantu population.)
3. Place students in separate areas of the classroom according to their classification. Explain that for the rest of the class period they will be kept separate from each other.
4. Hand out the instruction sheets to each student according to their classification and have them read their instructions for the period while you hand out name tags.
5. Issue name tags to the students that they must wear for the remainder of the period. Pass out self-adhesive name tags to the minority group, and pass out name tags made out of scrap paper and yarn to hang around the necks of the majority group. This illustrates the difference between ID cards and pass books. Tell them that if they lose their name tags, they will be removed from the activity and be place in the “jail” area.
6. Explain that there are certain areas of the classroom that are only accessible to the minority group. Make sure they have more space. Play up the preferential treatment of the minority group and continue the segregation for the duration of the period. Explain to the majority group that under no circumstances may they go outside their designated areas unless given permission from you or one of the “privileged minority” or they will be sent to “jail.” Explain that you will enforce the orders given by the privileged minority.
7. Explain that in this simulation the “M&M”s will represent income. Explain further that to succeed at this exercise each student must be in possession of at least 2 “M&M”s by the end of the simulation.
8. Give 57 “M&M”s to each of the privilege minority. 12 are to be kept at all times until the end of the activity, the others can be used as wages for the rest of the class. (To determine the total number of M&Ms available for these wage packets, multiply the number of the majority students by 1.5.) This simulates the roughly 8 to 1 Afrikaner/British income to the Bantu.) The Majority get none. They must “work” for their wages.
9. Tell students that some people in this society make more than others, but if they haven’t made enough to survive they can go to work for the privileged. Suggest certain jobs around the room that students can “work for”, such as empting the trash, cleaning the board, moving books, straightening desks, etc. Make certain the minority demands proper respect from the others.
10. Encourage the minority to write any laws on the board, such as no talking back, no talking between groups, etc. If students break the laws, then they are placed in “jail” and all wages are confiscated.
11. Allow the majority to resist and refuse to cooperate as long as it’s peaceful. Violent protesting will result in “jail” time.
During the Simulation, You as the teacher are mimicking some well known events in Apartheid.
1. Students who are labeled Afrikaner Minority will be giving “jobs” to the students who are labeled “Bantu.” Jobs can be physical. Encourage Privileged to “pay them only 1-2 beans per job.
2. Periodically take up “taxes” from people who have money. 1 bean at a time, though, and not from everyone.
3. All of a sudden, announce that there is a new law and randomly put people into homelands based upon “parameters,” such as everyone with shorts or Capris on go to Homeland # 1, Those wearing Green, go here…
4. You as the teacher randomly check “pass books” of people outside of the homelands. Of course no one has them, so send them to “jail.”
5. Announce that someone has been “beaten in Jail” and have the students sit just outside the door. They have to pay $20 M&Ms to be “seen” by a Dr. If they are in there more than 2 mins, announce that that person died of their injuries.
6. To “Get out of Jail” it’s 25 M&Ms. Students must stay in jail until someone “pays” you for their release.
7. Declare one of the Homelands “condemned” and “bulldoze” the homeland, then put people into jail who are “out of their homeland.”
8. Any “M&Ms “ that are paid to get out of jail, Dr/hospital, or Taxes, divide it between the Afrikaners.
Part 3- Discussion: Have students write the answers, and then discuss as a whole group. (20 min + 5 min writing/reflecting.)
1. Who succeeded in acquiring at least two M&Ms? (Point out that the privileged succeeded before the activity even began!)
a. Those of you with 6 or more M&Ms have enough money to 1. pay for rent, 2. buy food, 3. buy clothing, and 4. pay for education.
b. Those of you with 3-5 M&Ms, you must decide which 3 out of the 4 things above you’ll pay for.
c. Those of you with 2 M&Ms, you must decide which 2 out of 4 you will pay for or go without.
d. Those of you with 1 M&M, you must decide which 1 out of 4 you will pay for or go without.
e. Those of you with no M&Ms, you’ve died of starvation.
f. What did you have to do to get the wages?
2. (Ask the Majority representing Bantu)
a. Did anyone end up with no wages at the end? Why was this so? What made it hard to earn wages?
b. Did you think the privileged minority preferred things the way they were?
c. Did you speak out, complain, or demand any changes?
d. How did the minority respond to your effort? Why did they respond that way?
e. If you didn’t speak up, why not?
f. How did you feel about being separated from the other students in the class based on something outside your control?
g. If this type of separation would continue, what would you do to change it?
3. (Ask the Minority representing the Afrikaner/ British)
a. How did you deal with people who were uncooperative or tried to change the system?
b. If you knew the members of the majority were dissatisfied, why didn’t you try to make the situation more fair?
4. (Whole group) Were there any conflicts among people in the majority groups? What caused these? (overcrowding, competition for jobs?)
5. Did the privileged minority do anything to try to increase the conflict between people in the majority?
6. What reasons might the majority have for prohibiting protest and change? Can you make any general statement about the connection between repression and a system which is blatantly unequal?
7. How does this relate to the era of apartheid and the struggle for change?
8. Distribute Student Handout #2 Map so students can see the actual locations and size of the “homelands” for Bantu South Africans.
a. Why are these areas so chopped up into so many pieces?
b. How might this make it difficult for a united movement for equality and justice?
Student Handout 1:
Privileged Minority Representing the Afrikaners/British in South Africa
You have been given a number of privileges which the other students in the class do not have:
1. You will not be forced to squeeze into the small areas like the rest of the class.
2. You may wonder the room freely. (Except behind my desk.)
3. You will receive a packet of “M&M”s. 12 of them will be kept at all times. This represents your inherited wealth. You will use the rest of them to hire members of the unprivileged majority to work for you. Obviously you will receive many more “M&M”s than the other students.
4. You are privilege. You look down on the unprivileged and call them “Bantu.” They must call you “boss” if they want to work for you.
5. As mentioned, your responsibility is to make other people (the less privileged) work for you. Use the candy to pay out wages. Think up a number of jobs which need to get done (books moved to another part of the room, the floor swept, desk cleaned or moved, enforcing the law that other “Bantu” don’t step out of their separate areas, etc.) You may want to talk with the other privileged students before deciding on the jobs to be done and what you’ll pay. Don’t pay too much for a job. You don’t want to spoil them! Start out with paying 1-2 per job.
6. Make sure that the under privileged students don’t step outside the areas they are confined to unless it is work for you. When the job is done, they should return to their areas. Remember, the unprivileged must treat you with respect at all times or they will go to “jail.”
7. Should any of the underprivileged students fail to obey orders, leave their designated area, protest their treatment, not show you their passbook/id card, or not show you enough respect, you may punish them by sending them to “jail.” Designate one or more of you, or even some of the unprivileged students, as police in order to watch out for troublemakers.
Unprivileged Majority Representing the Bantu
1. You are, unfortunately, representing the under privileged group in South Africa. They minority (Afrikaners and British) have passed laws that restrict your freedoms within the class.
2. You are restricted to the taped off section of the room. You may NOT leave this area for any reason without being asked or hired by the minority. If you leave the designated area, then you will be sent to “jail.”
3. You have been given a name badge. That represents your pass book. You must present it to the minority whenever asked. If you lose it or damage it, then you will be sent to “jail.”
4. You must who the minority respect no matter what, even if they are mean to you. You must call the minority “boss” at all times and do whatever they ask of you without complaint. If you don’t, then you are sent to “jail”.
5. The minority have received packets of M&Ms representing their wealth. Notice you don’t have any! Their wealth is inherited, but you must work for your earnings. Volunteer as much as you can to be “hired” for the various jobs they give you. Remember, the faster and better job you do the higher wages you get! Also, you are competing with every other member in your group! You don’t have M&Ms at the end of the activity, then you cannot pay rent, feed your family, buy clothing, etc! Also, if you are sent to jail, it’s impossible to work!
6. Remember, protesting your treatment or job will land you in jail! Your goal is to earn as many M&Ms as you can… more candy = more wealth!
Student Handout: 2
Apartheid in South African Society
Bantu (Black) / Afrikaner/British (Whites)Assigned to 13% of land designated as “Homelands” / Own/Occupy 87% of land
Income less than 1/8 of whites / Income 8 times that of Bantu
Social/Occupational subordinates / Social/Occupational superiors
No vote or voice in lawmaking, but must obey laws / Makes laws which everyone must follow
Must have permission to live in the 87% of South African designated “white” areas / Control through laws who may or may not live in “white” South Africa
Must carry passbooks at all times or be arrested or beaten / Carried IDs like a driver’s licenses but don’t have to carry it
· Virtually all protest, non-violent or otherwise, is outlawed. Even to meet together is illegal.
· People may be detained without trial indefinitely. Thousands are in jail without having been convicted, or even accused of any crime.
· According to human rights groups, 70% of these have been physically tortured. Hundreds have been shot in the streets by police and army.
· There is very little arable farm land in the Homelands. For example, only 15% of the Ciskei is arable, 89% of Ciskei children suffer from malnutrition.
· According to The Economist, on average 50,000 children died every year during apartheid from the effects of malnutrition, while South Africa exported over $1 billion worth of food annually.