Anti-Apartheid Poster

Andrew Koleski

3/7/16

Final Draft

Dr. Brown

“Anti-Apartheid Movement” Poster

At the top of the page is a poster made by the “Anti-Apartheid Movement”, a group based in the U.K. dedicated to raising awareness of apartheid in South Africa. More specifically, this group is using the object to protest The 1967 Terrorism Act. This piece of legislation gave the authorities the power to “detain people indefinitely without disclosing where they were being held” (Michigan State University) Using pathos, logos, and ethos, this poster demonstrates to its audience how vital it is to help the “Anti-Apartheid Movement” so they can stop the system of racism in South Africa. This object was distributed within the U.K., but thanks to the very act it was protesting, the group’s poster could not be shown in South Africa.

The 1967 Terrorism Act had an “official goal”, the one defined previously, however at the heart of the law was something darker. During the 60’s, South Africa was under the system of government known as “apartheid”. A definition of apartheid could go something like this: It was a system of racial segregation, and “political and economic discrimination” against those that were not of European descent (Webster), even though the majority of those living in South Africa were black. (Stanford)  Any form of opposition government or even a difference of opinion was seen as a danger to the current regime. For example, following the passage of the act, hundreds of members of an opposition party, (South West African People’s Organization, SWAPO) where arrested and jailed because they were suspected of being “terrorists”. (SAHO) For the next 40 plus years, the country operated under a system of apartheid. (BBC News) Throughout this time, the government cracked down on protesters and opposing parties and other leaders, such as Nelson Mandela, were jailed. (BBC News) Eventually, Mandela was released and later elected leader of South Africa. (BBC News) However, that does not excuse the shameful history of apartheid in South Africa. Thus, the “Anti-Apartheid Movement” was interested in ending Apartheid, but in particular The 1967 Terrorism Act because it gave overreach of power to the Apartheid police, used no diplomacy in the process, continued a system of segregation not only through law, but by force and worst of all negatively affected the people of the country it was “supposed” to protect.  This system was adopted nationwide in 1948, when the National Party took control of the country.

The main strategy used with this object is logos, using the law’s own purpose and logic against it. Since the group knows that corruption and abuse of power stirs strong feelings in people, the poster wastes little time in attempting to shape the public’s perception of the policeman shown in the photo, as well as explaining the true reason for the law. “…He can question them in secret for as long as he likes…” (Michigan State University) the caption on the photo says. With this sentence, the poster is trying to convince the audience that 1.) The policeman is up to no good and that 2.) This particular policeman would have no problem abusing his power. This second point is driven home by what is said after the first quote: “…And cannot be forced to account for any of his actions.” (Michigan State University) With that statement, the poster is letting the audience know that if they don’t do something quick, this evil man will “get away with it”.

However, this is not the only way the object uses logos. It also does this by appealing to the audiences’ reasoning, more specifically in relation the job of a policeman. For many people, the police are meant to protect and take of their citizens. Make sure everybody is safe, stop criminals from stealing, calming down people and deescalating situations. How strange then, that this particular person is not referred to as a policeman once in the entire caption. Instead, the poster refers to his as a “versatile gentleman” that “with his many colleagues, arrests around 3,000 Africans every day”. (Michigan State University) This quote could make the audience do a double take and ask themselves questions, such as what makes this man so versatile? Why has the author used this word? Is it a bad thing? Further down, though, is where the audience may really start to think about what is going on, and might begin to question the policeman’s authority through reasoning and logic. If he is a policeman, why is he traveling in a group with colleagues? Shouldn’t he be able to do his job alone? Also, why is he arresting 3,000 people a day? Isn’t that too much? The strongest use of logos, however, comes when the poster states “…at least 15 people have died under his ‘questioning’ (Michigan State University) in the past several years. Surely, a policeman doing routine questioning shouldn’t be killing anyone? It’s moments like this, as well as the others, where the object is attempting to shape the audience’s opinion through logos.

Though it may not seem like it at first, the object does not only appeal to reason, logic, rationality, & evidence. The poster also uses ethos to some degree. While it may seem to be criticizing authority itself, one way to interpret the object would be to say it simply replaces one type of authority with another. In the poster, as mentioned before, a policeman is pictured while an unflattering characterization is made by a caption next to him. However, without the authority of the police to relay on the poster addresses its audience directly by telling them what has happened, and what to do about it; “This is South Africa’s police state. This is how apartheid is enforced. Help us work toward ending it. Join the Anti-Apartheid Movement” (Michigan State University) having said this, the poster seems to leave all of the power, and authority, in the hands of the audience. With injustice rampant in South Africa, and a police force not to be trusted, it is up to them, and those that have been informed of the situation, to join the movement that will help end apartheid in the African country.

Apartheid was a shameful time in history for South Africa and its people, and as this object showed the frustration and anger felt towards it was not only felt by its people. However, it is important to note that in time of frustration, hatred, and bigotry there was always those ready to fight it. It is quite interesting that not only was it people outside the country, that made the poster, but it was people not even in the same continent the law was taking effect in, that decided to speak up for those that were being abused. The “Anti-Apartheid movement” successfully used the rhetorical strategies of pathos, logos, and ethos to sway their audience into not only thinking about the injustice of apartheid, but perhaps a way to end it.

                                                                 Works Cited

BBC News "South Africa Profile - Timeline - BBC News." BBC News. BBC, 25 June 2015. Web. 24 Feb. 2016.

Michigan State University “A South African Policement, Judge, and Executioner:." African Activist Archive. Michigan State University, n.d. Web. 08 Feb. 2016.

SAHO "1967 Terrorism Act, No. 83 of 1967." SAHO.org.za. South African History Online, 6 July 2012. Web. 08 Mar. 2016.

Stanford "The History of Apartheid in South Africa." Students.standford.edu. Stanford, n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2016.

Webster "Apartheid / Definition of Apartheid." Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2016.