Locate the Origins of Racism in South Africa and Account for the Rise of the Racial Order
Farmers, ancestors of today’s Bantu-speaking majority, settled South Africa around 300 A.D. (Thompson 10) In 1487, a Portuguese expedition signalled the first of many Dutch and British explorations (Thompson 31). The country’s agricultural and mineral riches contrasted dramatically with the European explorers’ industrial development (and economic greed), which sadly led to the eventual exploitation of South Africa’s native population.