HISTORY: One of The Photos That Gave Americans Their First Glimpse of Apartheid in 1950

 “Apartheid,” a word that means, simply, “apart-hood,” will forever be associated with South Africa’s notorious system of racial domination and with the freedom struggle that brought it to an end. In 1950, when LIFE published its exposé, the word was still unfamiliar to most Americans. The term itself had begun to gain currency only after the South African National Party’s electoral victory in 1948.

Photo credit:  From Margaret Bourke-White's 1950 photo essay, "South Africa and Its Problem."