Monday, May 25, 2020

Sharpville Massacre - 1100 Words

Kekeletso Mphuthi Human Rights Day (21 March, the date of the Sharpeville Massacre in 1960) During the Apartheid era in South Africa, black people were oppressed beyond humane standards. They were deprived of racial equality with the whites. Also, they were exploited off from their land. Furthermore, they were restricted from certain privileges. All this caused retaliation by the blacks both politically and socially, and the eventual result was the Sharpeville Massacre. The Sharpeville massacre was a haunting historical response by black people against the Apartheid oppression. For almost fifty years black South Africans had strived for their struggle against oppression and exploitation with the greatest patience. They had put their†¦show more content†¦Then on March 21, 1960, the people of Sharpeville began to move up Seiso Street toward the police station at the top end of the township. It was said that the Congress leaders wanted everyone to go there and get them arrested for not carrying their passes. People crowded around the high security fence and were chanting and singing. On the other side of the fence were armed policemen lined up and ready to shoot and to the sides of the crowd were two rock-hard cars equipped with machine guns. People arrived in masses with only faith at hand. At exactly 1:50 P.M. there was uproar at the right side of the gate, it seemed as though a fat woman had been bumped by a police car as it tried to drive through the gate. Immediately after this there were chattering noises within the crowd. The police started shooting at crowd. People were being shot in the head. A survivor of this tragic day, Michael Zondo, a school teacher, recalls seeing brains flying everywhere in front of him, skulls bursting wide open. The crowd spread quickly and people began running in a panic. It was a moment of total chaos. Suddenly it was all over, 69 deaths and 180 sufferers, later the Sharpeville Massacre had come to an end. There is no memorial to the Sharpeville Massacre as there is to the women and children who died in the Boer concentration camps, but it holds the same symbolic place in the pilgrimage of deaths ofShow MoreRelatedHow Far Has the Importance of Nelson Mandela in the Ending of Apartheid Been Exaggerated?1748 Words   |  7 Pagesbelieved to be more influential than Mandela. Protests against pass laws were quite common but the Sharpville massacre is what caught the attention of the world. The Sharpville massacre was one of the worst civilian massacres is south African history. It was reported in the Chronicle of the 20th century that â€Å"56 Africans died and 162 were injured when police opened fire in the black township of Sharpville.† This cannot be thought of as completely accurate as it was published in a newspaper. The governmentRead MoreThe Role of Nelson Mandela in En ding Apartheid in South Africa783 Words   |  4 Pageshelped bring Apartheid to an end; the examples are the Sharpville massacre (in 1960) and the Soweto (in 1978). Sharpville was a very important turning point in the fight against Apartheid. In 1960 the PAC organised a protest against the pass laws at Sharpville. Some 5000 unarmed protesters gathered. Stone throwing led to shooting. At the end of the day 69 Africans were dead and 178 wounded. Obviously this massacre caused devastation, upset and anger. The ANC calledRead More Nelson Mandela Essay2142 Words   |  9 PagesANC to protest the actions of the Apartheid government. The police retaliated sporadically shooting everybody in sight†¦sixty-nine dead, one hundred and eighty injured (Humanitarians and Reformers 184).The vicious annihilations were named the Sharpville massacre (Humanitarians and Reformers 183). These events created a work boycott amongst the African community which in turn caused the government to claim that they were in a state of emergency, shutting down the entire country. Arrest warrants wereRead MoreTaking a Look at Nelson Mandela639 Words   |  3 Pagescannot say for certain if there is such a thing as love at first sight, but i do know that the moment i first glimpsed at Winnie Nomzamo,I knew that i wanted to have her as my wife. (Mandela,1958, pg 77 ) Armed Struggle(1960) After the 1960 Sharpville Massacre, where many unarmed black protesters were killed by the police he saw the need to change from his non-violent ways by organizing an armed struggle the ANCs Military Wing, Umkhonto WeSizwe. In the very same year he went on to study guerrilla

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