On this day in 1960, the Apartheid police in Sharpeville, South Africa, brutally killed 69 black demonstrators who were protesting the country’s pass laws, which obliged black South Africans to carry identification papers at all times.
The Sharpeville Massacre took place in the Sharpeville Township on March 21, 1960. Roughly five thousand African American demonstrators gathered in front of a police station to voice their opposition to the nation’s apartheid regulations, which mandated that they carry identification with them at all times.
In response, the demonstrators were surrounded by the police, who then made them leave. As the demonstrators threw stones at the police, the situation swiftly became more heated, leading to the police using tear gas.
After a while, the police opened fire, killing 69 people—the majority of them were shot in the back while running. The massacre claimed the lives of over 180 more people, and the bodies of the wounded and dead were strewn across Sharpeville’s streets.
The Sharpeville Massacre marked a turning point in the anti-apartheid movement by drawing international criticism of the South African government and amplifying calls for its abolition. In South Africa, the day is observed as Human Rights Day.
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