From apartheid in South Africa and slavery in America to the three ships that brought immigrants to both undiscovered countries, South Africa and the United States are alike in many ways.

That's the message Dr. Mzamo Mangaliso brought to the Westminster College campus Tuesday night.

Mangaliso, associate professor of business policy and strategy at the University of Massachusetts, spoke as part of Westminster's diversity symposium.

Mangaliso, a self-described "prototypical child of apartheid," shared his experiences growing up under the racist system, which he said was designed to establish a deep inferiority complex in South African blacks.

Apartheid was the norm from the 1950s until 1989.

Mangaliso described in detail some of the ways whites used to keep blacks subservient and dependent, including using biblical references to keep blacks down.

"Teachers would teach that self-fulfillment isn't a thing of this world, especially for blacks," he said. "The system was wired for blacks to learn languages -- not sciences, math or management."