U.S. students hit South African racial apartheid: 1964
Pickets organized by the U.S. National Student Association picket the White House April 11, 1964 demanding an end to U.S. support of the white settler regime in South Africa.
Signs read, “We Support Stronger Action Against Apartheid,” “Must We Wait for Destruction to Act,” “Sponsor U.S. National Student Association,” and “Down with Separate Development.”
The British and Dutch fought over settler domination of the country for many years with the British ultimately defeating the Dutch settlers in the second Boer War 1899-1902. The British government began ceding power in the country to the white settler minority (about 20% of the population) over the coming decades.
Racial segregation was practiced in country, but was codified into law in 1948 when the National Party (primarily descendants of the Dutch) gained full power.
Every aspect of life was segregated with the white minority developing the highest per capita income on the continent while the black majority lived in poverty.
The U.S. backed the white minority regime to serve as a bulwark against the Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China.
However a long struggle by the African National Congress (ANC) headed by Nelson Mandela ultimately forced the white minority to cede power through political protest and armed struggle.
The National Party lifted the ban on the ANC in 1990 and released Mandela from 27 years of imprisonment.
In 1994, the ANC won the first free national elections and has been in power since.
Protests against the South African white minority regime in the U.S. began almost immediately after apartheid was imposed in 1948, but increased in momentum in the 1980s when daily demonstrations at the South African Embassy resulted in several thousand arrests.
Ironically, the National Student Association, sponsor of this 1964 protest, was revealed in 1967 to be partially financed by Central Intelligence Agency.
For more information and related images, see flic.kr/s/aHsjDjwNgU and flic.kr/s/aHskuchH91
Photo by Gene Abbott. The image is courtesy of the D.C. Public Library Washington Star Collection © Washington Post.
U.S. students hit South African racial apartheid: 1964
Pickets organized by the U.S. National Student Association picket the White House April 11, 1964 demanding an end to U.S. support of the white settler regime in South Africa.
Signs read, “We Support Stronger Action Against Apartheid,” “Must We Wait for Destruction to Act,” “Sponsor U.S. National Student Association,” and “Down with Separate Development.”
The British and Dutch fought over settler domination of the country for many years with the British ultimately defeating the Dutch settlers in the second Boer War 1899-1902. The British government began ceding power in the country to the white settler minority (about 20% of the population) over the coming decades.
Racial segregation was practiced in country, but was codified into law in 1948 when the National Party (primarily descendants of the Dutch) gained full power.
Every aspect of life was segregated with the white minority developing the highest per capita income on the continent while the black majority lived in poverty.
The U.S. backed the white minority regime to serve as a bulwark against the Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China.
However a long struggle by the African National Congress (ANC) headed by Nelson Mandela ultimately forced the white minority to cede power through political protest and armed struggle.
The National Party lifted the ban on the ANC in 1990 and released Mandela from 27 years of imprisonment.
In 1994, the ANC won the first free national elections and has been in power since.
Protests against the South African white minority regime in the U.S. began almost immediately after apartheid was imposed in 1948, but increased in momentum in the 1980s when daily demonstrations at the South African Embassy resulted in several thousand arrests.
Ironically, the National Student Association, sponsor of this 1964 protest, was revealed in 1967 to be partially financed by Central Intelligence Agency.
For more information and related images, see flic.kr/s/aHsjDjwNgU and flic.kr/s/aHskuchH91
Photo by Gene Abbott. The image is courtesy of the D.C. Public Library Washington Star Collection © Washington Post.