Sharpeville Massacre Essay Example
SHARPEVILLE: BLOODY THE BATTLE
THE EVENTS OF SHARPEVILLE (21 MARCH 1960), AND THE THREE WEEKS IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING IT, HAVE OFTEN BEEN DESCRIBED AS A DECISIVE TURNING-POINT IN MODERN SOUTH AFRICAN HISTORY. DOES A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE EVIDENCE HEAR OUT THAT VIEW?
“...one little boy had on an old blanket coat, which he held up behind his head, thinking, perhaps, that it might save him from the bullets. Some of the children, hardly as tall as the grass, were leaping like rabbits. Some were shot, too. Still the shooting went on... ”
-Humphrey Tyler,
Witness and Assistant Editor of Drum Magazine
The Sharpeville massacre of 1960 and the events it precipitated had a profound and long lasting effect on South African society and the already volatile political climate of the time. This essay will contend that the unrestrained violence upon a peaceful demonstration proved to be a watershed moment that was decisive in determining the immediate future of the anti-Apartheid struggle, as well as determining the future direction of the Apartheid regime in South Africa. This essay will detail the massacre, the events that lead up to it and it will highlight the responses of the government, resistance movement and international community. I will argue that these responses had a long lasting effect on the future direction of the apartheid state and anti-apartheid movement, thus making it a decisive turning point in modern South African history.
Before one can appreciate the significance of the Sharpeville massacre, one must understand its historical background and political context. From 26 May 1948, South Africa was ruled by the National Party government, who came to power on the political platform of separateness, or Apartheid. As the rest of the western world moved to end racial segregation, South Africa entered a phase that saw sustained and institutionalised racism at the hands of a government who were representing the minority white race. Christopher
THE EVENTS OF SHARPEVILLE (21 MARCH 1960), AND THE THREE WEEKS IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING IT, HAVE OFTEN BEEN DESCRIBED AS A DECISIVE TURNING-POINT IN MODERN SOUTH AFRICAN HISTORY. DOES A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE EVIDENCE HEAR OUT THAT VIEW?
“...one little boy had on an old blanket coat, which he held up behind his head, thinking, perhaps, that it might save him from the bullets. Some of the children, hardly as tall as the grass, were leaping like rabbits. Some were shot, too. Still the shooting went on... ”
-Humphrey Tyler,
Witness and Assistant Editor of Drum Magazine
The Sharpeville massacre of 1960 and the events it precipitated had a profound and long lasting effect on South African society and the already volatile political climate of the time. This essay will contend that the unrestrained violence upon a peaceful demonstration proved to be a watershed moment that was decisive in determining the immediate future of the anti-Apartheid struggle, as well as determining the future direction of the Apartheid regime in South Africa. This essay will detail the massacre, the events that lead up to it and it will highlight the responses of the government, resistance movement and international community. I will argue that these responses had a long lasting effect on the future direction of the apartheid state and anti-apartheid movement, thus making it a decisive turning point in modern South African history.
Before one can appreciate the significance of the Sharpeville massacre, one must understand its historical background and political context. From 26 May 1948, South Africa was ruled by the National Party government, who came to power on the political platform of separateness, or Apartheid. As the rest of the western world moved to end racial segregation, South Africa entered a phase that saw sustained and institutionalised racism at the hands of a government who were representing the minority white race. Christopher