3.21.2010

Monday, March 21, 1960: The Sharpeville massacre

Police in Sharpeville, South Africa (a township south of Johannesburg) open fire on a crowd protesting the country's pass laws, under which black people were required to carry identification with them at all times. Failure to do so could mean arrest and jail. The pass books also were used to restrict where blacks could go. 69 people were killed and at least 180 were wounded at Sharpeville; many of them were shot in the back as they ran from the gunfire. South Africa and its apartheid policies were quickly condemned around the world.

* More about Sharpeville: @
* More about pass laws: @ and @
* Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg: @
* Artists on the massacre: @


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