Something else about March 21

Mar 22, 2009

Something else about March 21

March 21st meant election day in Queensland, which grabbed my attention more than I expected it too.

But that date was also the 49th anniversary of the Sharpeville massacre in South Africa, when 69 people were killed and over 300 injured when police opened fire on demonstrators protesting against apartheid laws.

This also led to the date being chosen as the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. Australia ratified the Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) in 1975.

This is probably as good a reason as any to mention a newly initiated project by Australia’s Human Rights Commission, into human rights and social inclusion issues for African Australians. There is a lot more than racism involved in this question of course, but none the less it is certainly one of the issues facing some Australians of African background. More details on the process are available at this link.

2 Comments, Comment or Ping

Megan

Something else that happened on 21/3:

http://video.google.com.au/videoplay?docid=-3856122036025303226

Mar 26th, 2009

Race relations and Africans in Australia « A possie in Aussie - Mar 23rd, 2009

Reply to “Something else about March 21”

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