Apartheid was a system of racial segregation in South Africa. It was institutionalized in 1948. A series of over 100 laws were created to separate the black people in south Africa from the whites. Black people were treated inferior to whites around this time. Apartheid laws changed the social life of many non-whites, like prohibition of marriage between whites and non-whites, and separate schools for white and non-white children. This time in history was similar to the form of segregation in the united states in the early 60's.