apartheid

3 definitions • 5 examples

in the past in South Africa, a system under which people of different races were kept separate by law, and white people were given more political rights and educational and other advantages:

South Africa finally began to dismantle (= end) apartheid.

Archbishop Tutu said that when South Africans were fighting apartheid, they were supported by people worldwide.

He was an important leader in the struggle against the apartheid regime.

a system of keeping groups of people separate and treating them differently, especially when this results in disadvantage for one group:

She is a long-time critic of what she calls "gender apartheid" in her country.

Opponents of special schools see them as educational apartheid.

(in the past) a political system in South Africa that legally separated people of different races