South African-American

Infobox Ethnic group
group = South African-American


caption = Charlize Theron • Elizabeth Furse • Embeth Davidtz
flagicon|South Africa flagicon|USA
poptime = South African 45,569 Americans cite web |url=http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/DTTable?_bm=y&-context=dt&-ds_name=DEC_2000_SF3_U&-mt_name=DEC_2000_SF3_U_PCT018&-CONTEXT=dt&-tree_id=403&-redoLog=true&-all_geo_types=N&-geo_id=01000US&-search_results=01000US&-format=&-_lang=en&-SubjectID=14595646 | title = PCT18. ANCESTRY (TOTAL CATEGORIES TALLIED) FOR PEOPLE WITH ONE OR MORE ANCESTRY CATEGORIES REPORTED (109) - Universe: Total ancestry categories tallied for people with one or more ancestry categories reported]
popplace = New York, Maryland, Minnesota, Illinois, North Carolina, Florida
langs = American English, South African English, Afrikaans, Zulu, Tswana (see Languages of South Africa)
rels = Zion Christian, Roman Catholic, Methodism, Anglicanism, JewishA South African-American refers to a people who live in the United States and who orginate from South Africa. There are 45,569 people today in the United States who claim South African ancestry.

History

South African people started arriving in the United States in mid-20th Century. White immigrants were typically of European heritage, since it was in the very nature of Afrikaner identity to stay put: this indeed was integral to the mentality which spawned apartheid. Then, of course, there were the black immigrants, who also were fleeing apartheid, though not simply as a matter of conscience but rather for survival. Immigration by blacks was limited as well, but again for different reasons: though the standard of living for blacks in South Africa was higher than for most people living on the African continent, economic conditions still made immigration difficult.

The end of apartheid, of course, brought significant waves of white emigration, but the white exodus from South Africa in the 1990s was not as severe as many had predicted. Mandela, who stepped down from the presidency in 1999, sought to retain as many whites as possible, and urged multiracial policies in an attempt to counteract a potential black backlash against former oppressors. Nonetheless, racism has remained a powerful force in South Africa, a factor which could motivate migrations in the future. This racism is not simply white against black, though that has continued, albeit in reaction to government policy rather than as a part of that policy. Yet as the Africa News Service reported in 1999, much of the racism is black on black. South Africa has always been a net "importer" of people, with much higher immigration than emigration, but according to the News Service report, black hostility towards other Africans increased in the 1990s: "South Africans even have derogatory ways of referring to black foreigners: makwerere—the local name given to insects that survive on cow and human feces; or girigamba: people from nowhere."

List of South African-Americans

*Charlize Theron, model and actress
*Jani Allan, columnist and radio personality
*Caron Bernstein, model and actress
*Embeth Davidtz, actress
*Mike Connell, professional footballer
*Colin Cowie, lifestyle guru
*Cliff Drysdale, tennis player
*Elizabeth Furse, US politican
*Robert Hamerton-Kelly, theologian
*Johan Kriek, tennis player
*Dave Matthews, musician
*Victor Nogueira, soccer goalkeeper
*Andrew Parkinson, soccer player
*Andrew Pattison, tennis player
*Trevor Rabin, musician
*Roy Wegerle, soccer player
*Goapele, Rhythm & Blues artist
*Daniel Mindel, cinematographer

References

External links

* [http://www.everyculture.com/multi/Pa-Sp/South-African-Americans.html EveryCulture — South African-Americans]