Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2015 October 19

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October 19

Apartheid in South Africa

The Humanities desk is semi protected for some reason, so I had to ask my question here. Looking at colonialism, it appeared that most colonies in Africa gained their independence through the 1950s and 60s. but why did the struggle to end minority rule in South Africa take so long, and why was it eventually successful? It seems strange that the rest of Africa did rid of their colonial rulers about 30 years before South Africa did. Thanks! --Yonglingtonshire (talk) 09:28, 19 October 2015 (UTC)

The decolonization of Africa actually took place long after South Africa became an independent country - it has been independent since 1910. Adam Bishop (talk) 09:33, 19 October 2015 (UTC)

What, then, in the world, do you mean by "decolonization", Adam Bishop? When exactly, for example, did the US become decolonized by your definition? And can you provide your definition? μηδείς (talk) 01:40, 21 October 2015 (UTC)

I hear there's this online encyclopedia called "Wikipedia", it's pretty new, you might not have heard of it yet. Anyway it's got an article about the Decolonization of Africa. Adam Bishop (talk) 09:22, 21 October 2015 (UTC)

In the context of South Africa, apartheid and colonial rule were not the same thing, though they did have historical links. Apartheid really only got into full swing after South Africa gained effective independence. One of the driving factors was the desire by the white ruling class to preserve white supremacy after independence. Identifying apartheid with colonial rule is not really accurate, as the whites who supported apartheid were mostly lifelong residents of South Africa descended from several generations of white settlers, and identified as Afrikaner, not as Dutch or German or what have you. If you see how apartheid and colonial rule are different, you might see why it took so long to end. An often-cited factor in the decline of European colonialism was the large shift in economic, political, and military circumstances brought about by WWII. South Africa, being by that time an independent state, did not experience the same factors. And, the international attitude towards apartheid was often that it was an internal matter of South Africa, as opposed to colonialism, which became perceived as states unjustly dominating foreign peoples. Once the Cold War got into gear, South Africa received support from the U.S. and its allies as a bulwark against the spread of communism in Africa, which also dampened criticism. International attitudes only started to really shift against apartheid in the late '70s and early '80s, which probably helped bring about its end. --71.119.131.184 (talk) 10:31, 19 October 2015 (UTC)

Also, whites in South Africa were a significant minority in control of a large military. Ethnic groups in South Africa says: "The first census in South Africa in 1911 showed that whites made up 22% of the population". When the colonial powers and their armies pulled out of other African countries, it would often be unrealistic for the remaining whites to control the country. PrimeHunter (talk) 00:46, 23 October 2015 (UTC)

I'm afraid your numbers are wrong, the white population when South Africa gained independence as a Dominion in 1910 as well as in 1961 when it became a republic and left the Commonwealth, was around 20% of the total. See Demographics of South Africa#Historical censuses which has data for 1904 and 1960. The drop to below 10% is much more recent. I'm fairly sure the white population went over 200,000 quite early in the colonial period, certainly by the early to mid 1800s. Current (2011 census) numbers are 4,586,838 white people out of a total of 51,770,560. Roger (Dodger67) (talk) 12:09, 24 October 2015 (UTC)

Corn dolly (section)

Corn dolly

Wow !! I have just registered for an account - such a complicated web site !!

My enquiry is - is it possible to add information to a page heading, ie `corn dolly` ?

My wife is a very experienced Corn Dolly maker, has been making for over 40 years. During 2014 my wife made the `longest corn dolly` there is not one registered anywhere, the length being `65 feet 4.7 inches` long. My question is - is possible to have this information added to Wikipedia ? I look forward to some help I was not sure `where to ask this question, Thank you David Rolfe [contact info deleted, see top of page for instructions] — Preceding unsigned comment added by David.rolfe4145 (talk • contribs) 10:33, 19 October 2015 (UTC)

@David.rolfe4145: Indeed, it should be added. And as the above IP responder says, it should be referenced by some source for the information. That includes newspapers, magazine articles, reliable web sites, and the like. Unfortunately that list does not include your own personal knowledge, which we here at Wikipedia refer to as original research. Once you have a source for the info, you can reference that information by following the instructions at WP:REFB. Dismas|^(talk) 13:44, 19 October 2015 (UTC)