International Day Against Racism

The International Day Against Racism is celebrated annually on March 21 and in 1966 by the United Nations proclaimed. The occasion was the sixth anniversary of the Sharpeville massacre by units of the South African Police in Sharpeville in South Africa , then the apartheid state of the South African Union , on March 21, 1960. In English the day is called International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination , in French Journée internationale pour l'élimination de la discrimination raciale .

Durban 1989, the sign says that the beach is only accessible to white people according to Article 37 of Durban's Beach Ordinance

Since 1979 the " International Weeks Against Racism " have taken place every year at this time . From 1993 onwards, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) investigated injustices committed against blacks and other racially persecuted groups in South Africa . The period dealt with by the TRC commission begins with the Sharpeville massacre. The commission made the government at the time, especially the police minister, jointly responsible for the massacre. In 1996, then President Nelson Mandela signed the new South African constitution in Sharpeville.

Since 1995, March 21st has been a national day of remembrance in South Africa as " Human Rights Day " .

Web links

Recognition, justice and development: The midterm review of the International Decade for People of African Descent. (at un.org, accessed on March 21, 2020)
International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination . at www.unesco.org (accessed March 21, 2020)
International Day Against Racism . on www.bpb.de; accessed on March 21, 2020

Individual evidence

↑ Fabian Sickenberger in Die Zeit of March 19, 2020, page 33 in the article The shock of Sharpeville : The police shots ... became the turning point in South African history. ... The guns rattle for forty seconds, killing 69 people, injuring at least 180. ... For the first time, the UN Security Council calls for an end to apartheid in a resolution. The regime reacts with harshness and declares a state of emergency. The black opposition movement ANC (African National Congress) and its more radical breakaway PAC (Pan Africanist Congress) are banned; a little later they begin armed resistance. Even the young opposition activist Nelson Mandela now sees no alternative to militant resistance and burns his passport in response to Sharpeville. A look back shows that March 21, 1960 was the beginning of the end of the apartheid regime. Today South Africa celebrates this date as Human Rights Day, since 1966 the International Day Against Racism has been celebrated on March 21. (online at epaper zeit.de)

↑ Results of the hearing before the TRC ( Memento of October 15, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (English)

^ South African History Online : Mandela signs SA Constitution into law . on www.sahistory.org.za (English)

^ Republic of South Africa: Public Holidays Act, 1994 . In: Government Gazette of December 7, 1994, No. 16136, online at www.gov.za (Afrikaans, English)

[1] Fabian Sickenberger in Die Zeit of March 19, 2020, page 33 in the article The shock of Sharpeville : The police shots ... became the turning point in South African history. ... The guns rattle for forty seconds, killing 69 people, injuring at least 180. ... For the first time, the UN Security Council calls for an end to apartheid in a resolution. The regime reacts with harshness and declares a state of emergency. The black opposition movement ANC (African National Congress) and its more radical breakaway PAC (Pan Africanist Congress) are banned; a little later they begin armed resistance. Even the young opposition activist Nelson Mandela now sees no alternative to militant resistance and burns his passport in response to Sharpeville. A look back shows that March 21, 1960 was the beginning of the end of the apartheid regime. Today South Africa celebrates this date as Human Rights Day, since 1966 the International Day Against Racism has been celebrated on March 21. (online at epaper zeit.de)

[2] Results of the hearing before the TRC ( Memento of October 15, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (English)

[3] South African History Online : Mandela signs SA Constitution into law . on www.sahistory.org.za (English)

[4] Republic of South Africa: Public Holidays Act, 1994 . In: Government Gazette of December 7, 1994, No. 16136, online at www.gov.za (Afrikaans, English)