"Racism is the greatest threat to man... the greatest hatred for the least reason." -- Abraham HeschelApartheid. An experience that left thousands of black South Africans without rights, property and even life. Although original in name, the ideas were not original in themselves. The ordeal dates back to 1652, when the first Dutch settlers moved into the black territory with the mission to "change the order of civilization" (Rotberg 18). The “Boers” (Rotberg; 18), as the Dutch called themselves, adopted “an extremist fundamentalist Calvinist interpretation of religion” (Rotberg 19). This religion implies that one is a “ruler of all” (Rotberg 20). In 1795, English rule passed to the Dutch causing conflict between English settlers and Dutch (Afrikaner) settlers. Both groups empowered South Africa and did not share power equally. In the early 1900s there was a heated battle over the discovery of diamonds which marked the victory of the Dutch (Rotberg 18). However, this victory was not achieved simply by themselves. Black South Africans helped in the war. From this, the Dutch felt they had to reform stricter prohibitions for blacks to follow; which results in another reason to separate whites from non-whites: quoted by a native British administrator, “it was necessary to transform the (black) warriors into wage laborers” (Dugard, Haysom, and Marcus 25). Blacks were considered warriors because of their “battle with the English and Dutch” (Dugard, Haysom, and Marcus 25). The Dutch, who later changed their name to the Afrikaner National Party, did so as a means to separate from the English and to ensure social and economic dominance over all blacks. This name remained with them until the late 1940s... middle of the paper... a society where all people live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal that I hope to live for and achieve. But if necessary, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die." - Nelson Mandela, prisoner released after the end of apartheid ( Gordimer, Goldblatt 92). WORKS CITED Dugard, John, Nicholas Haysom and Gilbert Marcus. Last years of apartheid : Civil Liberties in South Africa: Ford Foundation, 1992. Gordimer, Nadine, David Goldblatt Lifetimes Under Apartheid New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1986. Pomeroy, William J. Apartheid, and African Freedom , 1986.Neame, L.E. The Story of Apartheid New York: London House and Maxwell, 1962.Rotberg, Robert I. Ending Autocracy, Enabling Democracy: World Peace Foundation, 2002.