apartheid
n. uncountablen. a system of laws that keeps people of different races apart and treats some groups unfairly. It is most famous for being the official policy in South Africa in the past.
n. a policy or system of segregation or discrimination on grounds of race. Historically refers to the institutionalised racial segregation in South Africa from 1948 to 1994.
The country finally ended apartheid in the early 1990s.
Nelson Mandela spent decades in prison for his fight against the laws of apartheid.
The dismantling of apartheid required not only the repeal of discriminatory laws but also a fundamental restructuring of the nation's social and economic institutions.
When referring to the specific historical system in South Africa, it is often capitalised; in a general political sense, it remains lowercase.