On January 24, 2016 SASA went on a tour of the Hector Pierterson Museum in Soweto. It was here that we built upon our understanding of how youth influenced the movement against apartheid laws in South Africa. Students in particular played an influential role in the fight for equal treatment during the apartheid years. Many of their efforts paralleled the way in which students in the American Modern Civil Rights Movement voiced their opinion and joined the fight for equality.
In Soweto on June 16th, 1986, thousands of students took to the streets for a march against the Bantu Education Act which stated that all students must be taught in Afrikaans. This was an organized protest against a law which favored white students already fluent in Afrikaans. With 5000 to 6000 students out in the streets fighting for their educational freedoms, it became a violent event with tanks, batons, tear gas, and armored police cars. Over the course of the protests and riots an estimated 600 students lost their lives standing up for their education. Hector Pieterson was one of these young individuals at just thirteen years of age. His picture lying dead and limp in an older boy’s arms became a symbol for all the students who gave their lives to the cause.
Hector and his peers inspired others around the country to take a stand against the Bantu Education Act spreading protests all throughout townships and communities. Wits University students acted in solidarity with the Soweto students by conducting a march through the streets of Johannesburg. These protests and riots continued into 1987 with 700 to 1200 estimated to be dead. What started as one community coming together against an unjust law, became a national movement that brought attention to major injustices.
While standing in this museum, particularly the stone garden at the entrance, I could not deny the similarity of the feeling I had when touring the 16th street Baptist Church ad Kelly Ingram Park in Birmingham, Alabama last Winter Term. It was there that students participated in non-violent protest even when dogs and fire hoses were used upon them. The children remained peaceful in their ways and stood strong to work towards a more free and just word. It was through the mass media coverage of their peaceful protests that lead to national and international attention. As a result, the Modern Civil Rights Movement gained more momentum and pushed further towards racial equality within the United States.
While in Birmingham and in Soweto, I really took the time to think about how passionate these students were about gaining justice for themselves and their people. In my lifetime, I have yet to be challenged so much that I felt the need to give my life in order to stand up for what I believe is right. It gives me chills to think of how strongly these students felt in order for them to have risked everything for their education and for racial justice.
Students in South Africa still continue to play a crucial role in the social and political environment of their nation. The #FeesMustFall campaign recently demonstrated the influence that students can have upon policy and their education. While hashtag protests are a more modern phenomenon, they still demonstrate the power that students have. Often times students are not taken seriously due to their young age, but over the course of our three weeks in South Africa we have seen just how influential students coming together can be. Students have sparked change across South Africa and the United States and have become some of their country’s biggest advocates for change. It is my hope that my peers in this course have seen just how powerful student social action can be and that they take that with them throughout their Elon careers in order to enact great change.
“You have to take a stand against something you know to be wrong.” –Helen Suzman
