Apartheid

Imagine a big, sunny playground. But on this playground, there was a very unfair rule. Some children could only use the swings. Other children could only use the slides. They were not allowed to play together, even if they wanted to be friends. I was a rule just like that. I was a big, sad idea that kept people apart just because their skin was a different color. It wasn't kind, and it wasn't fair at all.

My name is Apartheid. It is a big word that means 'apartness,' or being kept apart from others. I was made into a set of laws a long time ago, in 1948, in a beautiful country called South Africa. My rules said that people with different skin colors had to live in separate houses in separate towns. They had to go to separate schools. They could not even sit on the same park bench together. This made so many people feel very sad and very hurt. Many kind people knew this was wrong. They believed that everyone should be able to be friends and share the world together.

But then, something wonderful started to happen. Brave people decided to work together to make things fair. A kind and very strong leader named Nelson Mandela said that I was an unfair rule and that I had to go away. He and many, many other people worked for a long, long time to change things. People from all over the world helped them. Finally, the unfair laws started to be taken away in 1991. Then, in 1994, everyone in South Africa could vote together for the very first time. I was gone forever. My story shows everyone that when we work together for fairness and love, we can make the world a happy and friendly place for everybody.