The World: White Roots: Seeds of Grievance

Robert van Tonder, 54, is a 14th generation Afrikaner whose Danish ancestors arrived in the New Cape colony in 1700. He lives with his second wife and his six children in a rambling, thatched-roof farmhouse on a 100-acre homestead 20 miles west of Johannesburg. It is a peaceful countryside of rolling brown hills, white fences and grazing cattle. In Van Tonder's home, his small study is crammed with books in Afrikaans on the Great Trek and the Boer War. In the Afrikaner tradition, extra places are always set at meal times for neighbors who may unexpectedly call. Van Tonder is proud...