The Soweto uprising depicted in Kaffir Boy occurred on June 16th,
1976. As in the book, the uprising was primarily a response to the
implementation of Afrikaans in schools as the language of classroom
instruction. Around 10,000 students marched towards a soccer stadium at which
they planned to peacefully protest, but they were stopped by police en route.
Police forces fired upon the crowd, causing a mass chaos and eventually riots
that spread throughout over 100 townships. These events sparked the beginning of
months of chaos, conflict, and police brutality throughout black South
Africa.
The uprising is particularly
noteworthy because it followed a decade of relative calm in the resistance
movements against apartheid that resulted from the arrest and repression of
black leaders and organizations. One of the factors that is attributed to the
cause of this uprising is the increased enrollment in black schools- creating a
community of strong willed young men and woman with a collective identity. Full
article on the Soweto Uprising here:
http://overcomingapartheid.msu.edu/sidebar.php?id=65-258-3
No comments:
Post a Comment