Ep46: Sharpeville, Apartheid, Canada – a conversation about racism
Have you faced racism? Did you protest Apartheid? We discuss the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, its origins, and our own perspectives to race and racism.
March 21 is designated by the United Nations as the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. In South Africa, it is Human Rights Day. On March 21, 1960 police opened fire into a crowd of protestors at Sharpeville in South Africa. This event would start the process of the African National Congress (ANC) and the Pan-African Congress (PAC) being outlawed, Nelson Mandela being jailed, and the start of direct resistance against the South African Apartheid regime.
The events of Sharpeville happened to be part of my master’s thesis when I was studying under Dr. Christopher Youé at Memorial University. As a person of colour, and often a minority wherever I have chosen to live, race and racism is a topic that fascinates me, but also scares me to bring up.
Today on the podcast, I have my good friend and former professor, Dr. Erwin Warkentin, on the show for exactly that conversation. We are two very different people from opposite sides of the world with very different backgrounds. So have a listen to our conversation about race, racism, Apartheid, and indeed, the Sharpeville Massacre.
Further Reading
Read and learn more about the Sharpeville Massacre
A YouTube playlist of music from the movement against Apartheid
One of my favourite anti-Apartheid songs is Asimbonanga by the late great Johnny Clegg and Savuka. Here’s a famous video of Nelson Mandela joining Savuka on stage.
Related Episodes with Dr. Erwin Warkentin
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