Editing Boers (section)

== Modern usage ==
During recent times, mainly during the [[apartheid]] reform and post-1994 eras, some white [[Afrikaans]]-speaking people, mainly with conservative political views, and of Trekboer and Voortrekker descent, have chosen to be called {{lang|af|Boere}}, rather than ''Afrikaners'', to distinguish their identity.<ref name="web. archive. org">[https://web.archive.org/web/20080422063509/http://www.chico.mweb.co.za/art/2007/2007mar/070309-bang.html Yolandi Groenewald. "Bang bang – you’re dead"], ''Mail & Guardian Online''.</ref> They believe that many people of [[Voortrekker]] descent were not assimilated into what they see as the [[Cape Province|Cape]]-based Afrikaner identity. They suggest that this developed after the [[Second Anglo-Boer War]] and the subsequent establishment of the [[Union of South Africa]] in 1910. Some Boer nationalists have asserted that they do not identify as a [[Right-wing politics|right-wing]] element of the political spectrum.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20031001202018/http://rebellie.org/Raaktief/rk_openletter_ISS.htm Dr. Tobias Louw. "Open Letter to the Institute for Security Studies"], 1 October 2003</ref>

They contend that the Boers of the South African Republic and Orange Free State republics were recognised as a separate people or cultural group under international law by the [[Sand River Convention]] (which created the South African Republic in 1852),<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1741482| title = The Sand River Convention.}}</ref> the [[Bloemfontein Convention]] (which created the Orange Free State Republic in 1854), the [[Pretoria Convention]] (which re-established the independence of the South African Republic 1881), the [[London Convention (1884)|London Convention]] (which granted the full independence to the South African Republic in 1884), and the [[Peace of Vereeniging|Vereeniging Peace Treaty]], which formally ended the Second Anglo-Boer War on 31 May 1902. Others contend, however, that these treaties dealt only with agreements between governmental entities and do not imply the recognition of a Boer cultural identity ''per se''.

The supporters of these views feel that the Afrikaner label was used from the 1930s onwards as a means of politically unifying the white Afrikaans speakers of the Western Cape with those of Trekboer and Voortrekker descent in the north of South Africa, where the Boer Republics were established.<ref name="web. archive. org"/>

Since the Anglo-Boer war, the term {{lang|af|Boerevolk}} ('farmer people') was rarely used in the 20th century by the various regimes because of the effort to assimilate the {{lang|af|Boerevolk|italics=no}} with the Afrikaners. A portion of those who are the descendants of the {{lang|af|Boerevolk|italics=no}} have reasserted use of this designation.<ref name="web. archive. org"/>

The supporters of the ''Boer'' designation view the term ''Afrikaner'' as an artificial political label which usurped their history and culture, turning Boer achievements into Afrikaner achievements. They feel that the Western-Cape based Afrikaners – whose ancestors did not trek eastwards or northwards – took advantage of the republican Boers' destitution following the Anglo-Boer War. At that time, the Afrikaners attempted to assimilate the Boers into the new politically based cultural label.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20080422063509/http://www.chico.mweb.co.za/art/2007/2007mar/070309-bang.html Yolandi Groenewald. Bang bang – you're dead."], ''Mail & Guardian Online,'' March 2007</ref><ref>[http://www.oulitnet.co.za/seminarroom/marais_swart.asp Sandra Swart. ''Journal of Southern African Studies.'' 30.4, Dec 2004] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100308014642/http://www.oulitnet.co.za/seminarroom/marais_swart.asp |date=8 March 2010 }}.</ref><ref>Adriana Stuijt (former South African journalist). "Boer, Afrikaner Or White – Which Are You?" 2004.</ref>

In contemporary South Africa, ''Boer'' and ''Afrikaner'' have often been used interchangeably.{{dubious|date=May 2018}} {{lang|af|Afrikaner}} directly translated means ''African'', and thus refers to all Afrikaans-speaking people in Africa who have their origins in the Cape Colony founded by Jan Van Riebeeck. ''Boer'' is a specific group within the larger Afrikaans-speaking population.<ref>{{Cite book|title=A dictionary of contemporary world history : over 2800 entries|last1=Christopher|first1=Riches|last2=Palmowski|first2=Jan|isbn=9780191802997|year=1965|publisher=Oxford University Press |oclc=965506087}}</ref>{{verify source|date=May 2018}}

During apartheid, ''Boer'' was used by opponents of apartheid in various contexts, referring to institutional structures such as the [[National Party (South Africa)|National Party]], or to specific groups of people, such as members of the [[South African Police|Police Force]] (colloquially known as ''Boere'') and [[South African Army|Army]], Afrikaners, or [[white South Africans]] generally.<ref name="mg1">{{Cite web |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2011-05-19-shoot-the-boer-lost-in-translation/ |title='Shoot the boer': Lost in translation? |last=Quintal |first=Genevieve |website=The M&G Online |date=19 May 2011 |language=en |access-date=2019-03-16}}</ref><ref name="dmh">{{Cite web |url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2010-03-29-kill-the-boer-a-brief-history/ |title='Kill the Boer': a brief history |last=Brkic |first=Branko |website=Daily Maverick |date=29 March 2010 |language=en |access-date=2019-03-16}}</ref> This usage is often viewed as pejorative in contemporary South Africa.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Boer – definition of Boer in A Dictionary of South African English – DSAE|url=https://dsae.co.za/entry/boer/e00946|access-date=2021-06-21|website=dsae.co.za}}</ref><ref name="iolDontCallMeBoer">{{Cite news|title=Don't call me a boer|url=https://www.iol.co.za/pretoria-news/opinion/dont-call-me-a-boer-1610759|access-date=2021-06-21|website=iol.co.za|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=ConCourt rules 'boer' not offensive racist term {{!}} eNCA|url=https://www.enca.com/news/concourt-rules-boer-not-offensive-racist-term|access-date=2021-06-21|website=enca.com|language=en|archive-date=14 May 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230514174621/https://www.enca.com/news/concourt-rules-boer-not-offensive-racist-term|url-status=dead}}</ref>

=== Politics ===
* [[Boere-Vryheidsbeweging]]
* [[Boerestaat Party]]
* [[Freedom Front Plus]]
* [[Front National (South Africa)|Front National]]
* [[Herstigte Nasionale Party]]
* [[National Conservative Party of South Africa]]

=== Education ===
The [[BCVO|Movement for Christian-National Education]] is a federation of 47 Calvinist private schools, primarily in the Free State and the Transvaal, committed to educating Boer children from grade 0 through to 12.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.bcvo.co.za/ | title=Beweging vir Christelik Volkseie Onderwys |access-date=2011-12-01}}</ref>

=== Media ===
Some local radio stations promote the ideals of those who identify with the Boer people, like [[Radio Rosestad 100.6 FM]] (in Bloemfontein), [[Overvaal Stereo]] and [[Radio Pretoria]]. An internet-based radio station, ''[[Boervolk Radio]]'', promotes Boer separatism.

=== Territories ===
{{See also|Volkstaat}}

Territorial areas in the form of a {{lang|af|Boerestaat}} ('Boer State') are being developed as colonies exclusively for Boers/Afrikaners, notably [[Orania, Northern Cape|Orania]] in the Northern Cape and [[Kleinfontein]] near [[Pretoria]].