1948: South African Prime Minister D. F. Malan introduces apartheid, a system of laws that restrict the rights of blacks to preserve the power of the white minority.

1961: As South Africa declares independence from Great Britain and Malan is replaced by Hendrik Verwoerd, apartheid becomes even more restrictive. Blacks are forbidden to live in the white cities and towns but may travel to the cities to provide cheap labor for whites. They do not have the right to vote.

1990: South African President F. W. de Klerk announces that apartheid will be dismantled, and calls for a new bill of rights and a new system of government under which every adult will vote. Four years later, South Africa elects its first democratically chosen president, the black activist Nelson Mandela.

1949: The passage of the Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act makes marriage between whites and other racial groups...