On Friday, February 2,1990, Cape Town was the place to be. Television cameras from every nation came to record the historic event that would take place that tine and day. Whites and blacks stood happily together waving their black, green, and gold flags. They were waiting for the release of Nelson Mandela, icon of the anti-apartheid movement for two decades, but topic is not on Nelson Mandela. My topic is on the president that released him.
The president's name was Frederik Willem de Klerk Frederik, also known as F. W. de Klerk . He served from September, 1989 to May, 1994. The day Mandela was released de Klerk had something bigger on his mind. Only a handful of government officials knew of de Klerk's plan. They had been sworn not even to tell their wives. De Klerk was about to announce the official end of apartheid! De Klerk was the seventh and last State President of the apartheid-era in South Africa.
Frederik was born in Johannesburg, so he witnessed apartheid throughout his childhood. He is the son of Senator Jan de Klerk, a leading politician, who became a minister in the South African government. De Klerk was set up to be a leader from early childhood.
De Klerk strongly disagreed with the ideas of apartheid,which basically said that whites and blacks should live entirely separately. The whites should live in the rich lands of South Africa, and the blacks in the desperately poor homelands. Black Africans had lost nearly all of their human rights over that period.
I admire De Klerk, because even though he was exposed to the unfairness of apartheid his whole life, he recognized needing it was the right thing to do. F.W. De Klerk is seen as a hero to many South Africans, and through this research I also find De Klerk to be heroic. "He brought apartheid to an end and opened the way for the drafting of a new constitution for the country based on the principle of one person, one vote."
To anyone interested knowing more about De Klerk's feelings toward apartheid, I would suggest reading his autobiography The Last Trek- A New Beginning. It's a fantastic autobiography, de Klerk offers his life and accomplishments - with emphasis on the events between 1989 and 1994, with the fall of apartheid and the political shift in South Africa.
BBC- News Broadcast
Ayauna F [ A2]
"F.W. de Klerk - Biographical". Nobelprize.org. Nobel Media AB 2013. Web. 17 Dec 2013. http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1993/klerk-bio.html
Usborne, Simon. "FW De Klerk: The Day I Ended Apartheid." The Independent. Independent Digital News and Media, 02 Feb. 2010. Web. 17 Dec. 2013.
F. W. De Klerk was a great man. He wanted the end of a system which colored people were prosecuted into poverty and death. He was the last president to rule during apartheid. He grew up in this time of apartheid and wanted an end to the injustices. I like how you mentioned that only a few government officials knew about the end of apartheid before he announced it and that they couldn’t even tell their wives. I also like how you said that at the releasing of Nelson Mandela that black people and white people were side by side waving flags. It shows how that many on both sides wanted an end to injustice even if they didn’t know at that time apartheid was ending. One thing you could have done was to mention some of the other anti-apartheid things that F. W. De Klerk did. What other things did he do to end apartheid?
ReplyDeleteSam R 2A
De Klerk defies all stereotypes that white people wouldn't help blacks in their struggle. I appreciate his work in apartheid. He was able to realize the difference between right and wrong. This is usually what happens when people have good lives, but are sympathetic to those who are less fortunate. This man proved that race is no barrier from helping out.
ReplyDeleteYou did a great job on providing media. You also gave good information on how de Klerk felt about apartheid. One thing to improve on is adding more detail about de Klerk's efforts and strategies to end apartheid.
Who else did de Klerk work with besides the late Mandela?
De Clerk was a very heroic man. Seeing apartheid through this life really pushed him to make a change. He could've just forget all about apartheid because it didn't affect him. But instead he took action and fought for what is right, For that I applaud him. De Clerk is a person that wasn't afraid to be different from all the typical white people and not make a change. For he is truly a hero.
ReplyDeleteYou did really good in providing imagery and a lot of detail in the event of De Clerk announcing the end of apartheid. It was like you can see what was being said. Also the picture of him, and Mandela together gives the article a more powerful meaning. One thing to work on is to tell a little more of his efforts to stop apartheid and how he worked with Mandela.
What were his other views on apartheid besides that he felt it was wrong?
Deja M.