Reflections: The Complexity of Conflict

I received two reflections about the multiple racial distinctions under apartheid:

 

Before reading the book, I thought the race conflict in South Africa was binary as it is in America; white v black. But Noah educates us that there was/is conflict between a multitude of skin colors, tribes and ethnicities. 

"That's what apartheid did: It convinced every group that it was because of the other race that they didn't get into the club." 

This problem seems infinitely more complicated than what we have here in the US. 

I wonder how many conflicts in global history are similar to apartheid in having multiple groups all fighting against one another. When I think about major challenges it is most often a two-party issue: Christian v Muslim, Axis v Allies, French v English, Protestants v Catholics, Dems v GOP.

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It was interesting and new to me to know that there were three basic categories during apartheid, i.e. not only black and white, but also colored.