March 21, Human Rights Day, is a national holiday in South Africa. The Constitution of South Africa states, “Everyone has inherent dignity and the right to have their dignity respected and protected.” This right was repressed during apartheid South Africa (1948-1993) and was fought for and bought dearly by oppressed South Africans and their allies. Human Rights Day is a time to remember their struggle and ensure that by honoring each person’s God-given rights, South Africans will never experience such injustice again.
Mural in downtown Cape Town
March 21 was chosen to commemorate Human Rights Day because it marks an important day in this country’s history in the fight for human rights. On March 21, 1960, protesters refusing to be treated like second and third-class citizens were gunned down in cold blood by police.
Background to the Event:
The Native Laws Amendment Act of 1952 extended Government control over the movement of Africans to urban areas and abolished the use of the Pass Book (a document which Africans were required to carry on them to ‘prove’ that they were allowed to enter a ‘white area’) in favor of a reference book which had to be carried at all times by all Africans. Failure to produce the reference book on demand by the police was a punishable offence.
The Protest and Massacre:
The Pan Africanist Congress proposed an anti-Pass campaign to start on March 21, 1960. All African men were to take part in the campaign without their passes and present themselves for arrest. Campaigners gathered at police stations in townships near Johannesburg where they were dispersed by police. At the Sharpeville police station a scuffle broke out. Part of a wire fence was trampled, allowing the crowd to move forward. The police opened fire, apparently without having been given a prior order to do so. 69 people were killed and 180 wounded.
“That is the simple story that historians will relate,” Joe Tlholoe, one of South Africa’s most prolific journalists, wrote. “The real story was a more complex mixture of pain and grief, suffering, anger and courage, that is best left to izimbongi, the African epic poets, to tell.”
This Human Rights Day, I am taking time to consider the ways in which the world perpetuates attacks against the inherent dignity of each person and the ways in which I contribute to these injustices. I am also celebrating the human rights victories we as a world community have achieved and honoring the individuals who contributed to these triumphs. I pray that the fear of the other (that is at the heart of human rights abuses) will be transformed into joy of diversity and that out of this joy we will come to celebrate the inherent dignity of ALL people.
A prayer to inspire this task:
O God, who created all peoples in your image, we thank you for the wonderful diversity of this world. Enrich our lives by ever-widening circles of fellowship, and show us your presence in those who differ most from us, until our knowledge of your love is made perfect in our love for all your children; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. BCP p.840
Background to the Event:
The Native Laws Amendment Act of 1952 extended Government control over the movement of Africans to urban areas and abolished the use of the Pass Book (a document which Africans were required to carry on them to ‘prove’ that they were allowed to enter a ‘white area’) in favor of a reference book which had to be carried at all times by all Africans. Failure to produce the reference book on demand by the police was a punishable offence.
The Protest and Massacre:
The Pan Africanist Congress proposed an anti-Pass campaign to start on March 21, 1960. All African men were to take part in the campaign without their passes and present themselves for arrest. Campaigners gathered at police stations in townships near Johannesburg where they were dispersed by police. At the Sharpeville police station a scuffle broke out. Part of a wire fence was trampled, allowing the crowd to move forward. The police opened fire, apparently without having been given a prior order to do so. 69 people were killed and 180 wounded.
“That is the simple story that historians will relate,” Joe Tlholoe, one of South Africa’s most prolific journalists, wrote. “The real story was a more complex mixture of pain and grief, suffering, anger and courage, that is best left to izimbongi, the African epic poets, to tell.”
This Human Rights Day, I am taking time to consider the ways in which the world perpetuates attacks against the inherent dignity of each person and the ways in which I contribute to these injustices. I am also celebrating the human rights victories we as a world community have achieved and honoring the individuals who contributed to these triumphs. I pray that the fear of the other (that is at the heart of human rights abuses) will be transformed into joy of diversity and that out of this joy we will come to celebrate the inherent dignity of ALL people.
A prayer to inspire this task:
O God, who created all peoples in your image, we thank you for the wonderful diversity of this world. Enrich our lives by ever-widening circles of fellowship, and show us your presence in those who differ most from us, until our knowledge of your love is made perfect in our love for all your children; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. BCP p.840
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