ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book concerns the resistance of Africans to the appropriation of their land, labor, and power as the process of urban residential segregation unfolded during the colonial years in South Africa. It presents the first in-depth study of African resistance to residential segregation in Port Elizabeth that aimed to deprive them of their land, labor, and power as the process of establishing racial segregation unfolded during the years 1855-1910. The book analyzes the backdrop to an important compromise between Africans and the local officials in 1896 to ensure freehold land and house building rights if Africans agreed to move into a segregated black settlement. It examines why New Brighton, the first segregated African location in Port Elizabeth to be administered by the central government rather than by the local government, failed to meet the expectations of either the government or the Africans.
