1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,279 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:13,480 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,520 --> 00:00:17,360 Speaker 1: I'm Tracy V. Wilson and I'm Holly Fry. Today we 4 00:00:17,400 --> 00:00:20,120 Speaker 1: are going to talk about a protest that took place 5 00:00:20,160 --> 00:00:24,400 Speaker 1: in nineteen fifty six in Pretoria, South Africa. This was 6 00:00:24,440 --> 00:00:27,360 Speaker 1: a protest against pass laws that were part of South 7 00:00:27,400 --> 00:00:31,800 Speaker 1: africa system of apartheid, and specifically the requirement that women 8 00:00:31,960 --> 00:00:35,519 Speaker 1: carry passes. So this protest was simultaneously part of the 9 00:00:35,560 --> 00:00:39,199 Speaker 1: anti apartheid movement in South Africa and also the movement 10 00:00:39,280 --> 00:00:43,720 Speaker 1: for women's rights. It's been quite a while since we've 11 00:00:43,720 --> 00:00:46,239 Speaker 1: talked about apartheid on the show, so we're going to 12 00:00:46,320 --> 00:00:48,680 Speaker 1: start with some of that context. And to be clear, 13 00:00:49,200 --> 00:00:52,120 Speaker 1: this involves centuries of South African history, so it is 14 00:00:52,159 --> 00:00:57,280 Speaker 1: not going to be a comprehensive look at all of this. Uh. 15 00:00:57,280 --> 00:01:00,120 Speaker 1: It is an overview that's meant to give folks who 16 00:01:00,160 --> 00:01:04,160 Speaker 1: aren't familiar a sense of how the system of apartheid evolved, 17 00:01:04,760 --> 00:01:08,760 Speaker 1: especially as it related to these past laws. Also, for 18 00:01:08,840 --> 00:01:11,080 Speaker 1: a lot of the time that we're talking about, laws 19 00:01:11,319 --> 00:01:15,720 Speaker 1: in South Africa separated its population into four groups. There 20 00:01:15,760 --> 00:01:19,520 Speaker 1: was European or white black, which at various points was 21 00:01:19,600 --> 00:01:24,160 Speaker 1: described using terms like native and Bantu, colored or a 22 00:01:24,240 --> 00:01:27,400 Speaker 1: multi racial and Indian, and Indian was a catch all 23 00:01:27,520 --> 00:01:32,600 Speaker 1: term describing basically anyone from Southeast Asia unless we are 24 00:01:32,800 --> 00:01:36,479 Speaker 1: using the proper names of things like organizations or laws 25 00:01:36,600 --> 00:01:39,440 Speaker 1: or quoted material. Just for the psych of simplicity, we're 26 00:01:39,440 --> 00:01:43,080 Speaker 1: gonna stick with the terms white black, multi racial, and 27 00:01:43,120 --> 00:01:47,840 Speaker 1: Asian rather than drawing from this more dated terminology. The 28 00:01:47,920 --> 00:01:51,360 Speaker 1: British and the Dutch each started trying to establish settlements 29 00:01:51,400 --> 00:01:55,960 Speaker 1: and garrisons in Southern Africa in the seventeenth century. European 30 00:01:56,040 --> 00:01:59,120 Speaker 1: control of the area passed back and forth between Britain 31 00:01:59,160 --> 00:02:02,320 Speaker 1: and the Dutch East India Company until the early nineteenth 32 00:02:02,400 --> 00:02:05,760 Speaker 1: century at the start of the Napoleonic Wars, when Britain 33 00:02:05,920 --> 00:02:08,920 Speaker 1: reannexed South Africa to keep it from falling into the 34 00:02:08,960 --> 00:02:14,080 Speaker 1: hands of the French. British efforts at colonization expanded really 35 00:02:14,160 --> 00:02:17,840 Speaker 1: rapidly from there, and this led to intense conflict between 36 00:02:17,919 --> 00:02:22,920 Speaker 1: Britain and the region's many African nations and people's The 37 00:02:22,960 --> 00:02:27,000 Speaker 1: British really envisioned the society they were establishing in Southern 38 00:02:27,040 --> 00:02:30,720 Speaker 1: Africa as one that was for Europeans only, so the 39 00:02:30,760 --> 00:02:34,840 Speaker 1: British army forced the area's African nations and people's off 40 00:02:34,880 --> 00:02:38,240 Speaker 1: of their lands in a series of attacks and wars. 41 00:02:38,880 --> 00:02:42,560 Speaker 1: There was also conflict between British colonists and the Boers, 42 00:02:42,680 --> 00:02:46,680 Speaker 1: or people with Dutch, German and Huguenot ancestry. As Britain 43 00:02:46,800 --> 00:02:50,800 Speaker 1: established a larger and larger presence in South Africa, English 44 00:02:50,840 --> 00:02:55,480 Speaker 1: replaced Dutch as the dominant European language. British currency also 45 00:02:55,560 --> 00:02:59,239 Speaker 1: replaced Dutch currency, and of course, many Boers found the 46 00:02:59,360 --> 00:03:04,000 Speaker 1: shift away from their predominantly Dutch origins threatening. Britain also 47 00:03:04,080 --> 00:03:07,600 Speaker 1: outlawed slavery in eighteen thirty four, which prompted many Boers 48 00:03:07,639 --> 00:03:10,400 Speaker 1: to try to move to areas outside of British control 49 00:03:10,840 --> 00:03:14,760 Speaker 1: so they could retain their enslaved labor. Eventually, the Boers 50 00:03:14,880 --> 00:03:18,040 Speaker 1: established the Orange Free State and the South African Republic 51 00:03:18,120 --> 00:03:21,480 Speaker 1: also known as Transvaal, leaving Britain in control of the 52 00:03:21,480 --> 00:03:24,280 Speaker 1: Cape of Good Hope Colony and the Colony of Natal 53 00:03:25,040 --> 00:03:28,280 Speaker 1: and each of these colonies, white governments took steps to 54 00:03:28,280 --> 00:03:31,239 Speaker 1: try to control and restrict the movements of the local 55 00:03:31,280 --> 00:03:36,920 Speaker 1: black population, including through systems of discrimination and segregation. Starting 56 00:03:36,920 --> 00:03:40,280 Speaker 1: in eighteen fifty six, each of the four colonies passed 57 00:03:40,400 --> 00:03:43,600 Speaker 1: laws that were known as the Masters and Servants Acts. 58 00:03:44,240 --> 00:03:48,000 Speaker 1: These laws criminalized things like going on strike and breaking 59 00:03:48,040 --> 00:03:52,280 Speaker 1: employment contracts, and while they theoretically applied to anyone who 60 00:03:52,360 --> 00:03:56,320 Speaker 1: was employed, in practice they were mostly enforced only for 61 00:03:56,400 --> 00:04:01,160 Speaker 1: black people. Diamonds were discovered in Kimberly and eighteen sixty seven, 62 00:04:01,600 --> 00:04:04,080 Speaker 1: leading to a huge rush to the area and to 63 00:04:04,320 --> 00:04:07,840 Speaker 1: dow beers claiming a monopoly on the South African diamond trade. 64 00:04:08,600 --> 00:04:11,280 Speaker 1: As part of this, the colonies tried to annex even 65 00:04:11,320 --> 00:04:15,920 Speaker 1: more land and to consolidate neighboring states, further reducing the 66 00:04:15,960 --> 00:04:18,880 Speaker 1: amount of land the black population of South Africa was 67 00:04:18,920 --> 00:04:22,760 Speaker 1: allowed to access and to live on. The discovery of 68 00:04:22,800 --> 00:04:26,960 Speaker 1: diamonds also led to a huge disruption among many African communities, 69 00:04:27,000 --> 00:04:28,960 Speaker 1: as there was a demand for men to work in 70 00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:32,839 Speaker 1: the mines, leaving women to continue caring for their families 71 00:04:32,880 --> 00:04:36,760 Speaker 1: while also picking up the agricultural work that was necessary 72 00:04:36,800 --> 00:04:40,719 Speaker 1: to sustain them. In eighteen ninety three, the Orange Free 73 00:04:40,760 --> 00:04:46,720 Speaker 1: State instituted a pass system. Passes were essentially internal passports 74 00:04:46,760 --> 00:04:50,400 Speaker 1: that were necessary to move around within the state, but 75 00:04:50,720 --> 00:04:54,880 Speaker 1: they were required only for the state's black population, and 76 00:04:55,000 --> 00:04:58,840 Speaker 1: protests against these passes started as soon as they were introduced. 77 00:04:59,320 --> 00:05:04,520 Speaker 1: Requiring only black people to carry identification documents was discriminatory 78 00:05:04,520 --> 00:05:09,080 Speaker 1: and insulting, and because the passes were legally mandated, they 79 00:05:09,160 --> 00:05:13,480 Speaker 1: also provided an easy excuse for white authorities to hassle 80 00:05:13,560 --> 00:05:17,400 Speaker 1: people of color. Another law passed in the Orange Free 81 00:05:17,440 --> 00:05:20,919 Speaker 1: State in nineteen o seven established a requirement that black 82 00:05:21,000 --> 00:05:25,200 Speaker 1: domestic workers carry a service book, which detailed exactly where 83 00:05:25,200 --> 00:05:28,600 Speaker 1: they worked, and it had to be carried at all times. 84 00:05:29,200 --> 00:05:32,680 Speaker 1: If a person was caught without their service book three times, 85 00:05:32,720 --> 00:05:35,640 Speaker 1: they could be ejected from the town where they lived. 86 00:05:36,240 --> 00:05:39,360 Speaker 1: The South African War, also called the Second Boer War, 87 00:05:39,560 --> 00:05:42,760 Speaker 1: had taken place roughly alongside all of this, starting in 88 00:05:42,800 --> 00:05:47,159 Speaker 1: eighteen nine and ending in nineteen o two. This war 89 00:05:47,400 --> 00:05:49,960 Speaker 1: was between Britain and the Borer colonies of the South 90 00:05:50,000 --> 00:05:53,920 Speaker 1: African Republic and the Orange Free State. The British had 91 00:05:53,920 --> 00:05:57,200 Speaker 1: promoted the idea of equal laws and equal liberty, so 92 00:05:57,320 --> 00:06:00,640 Speaker 1: many black South Africans sided with Britain in this conflict, 93 00:06:01,120 --> 00:06:04,280 Speaker 1: hoping to have a more just and equitable existence once 94 00:06:04,320 --> 00:06:09,240 Speaker 1: the war was over. Instead, an all white delegation held 95 00:06:09,279 --> 00:06:12,080 Speaker 1: a series of meetings in nineteen o eight and nineteen 96 00:06:12,080 --> 00:06:15,640 Speaker 1: o nine, which led to the South Africa Act. This 97 00:06:15,760 --> 00:06:19,120 Speaker 1: was an act that united the four colonies under an 98 00:06:19,120 --> 00:06:22,880 Speaker 1: all white government, with the exception of black and multi 99 00:06:23,000 --> 00:06:27,560 Speaker 1: racial people who met specific wealth requirements. Only white people 100 00:06:27,640 --> 00:06:30,320 Speaker 1: had the right to vote, and the few members of 101 00:06:30,400 --> 00:06:33,240 Speaker 1: parliament who were supposed to represent the interests of South 102 00:06:33,279 --> 00:06:38,359 Speaker 1: Africa's black population were appointed, not elected. Only about a 103 00:06:38,520 --> 00:06:41,600 Speaker 1: fifth of the population of South Africa was white, so 104 00:06:41,680 --> 00:06:45,080 Speaker 1: this left the vast majority of people living in South 105 00:06:45,120 --> 00:06:48,920 Speaker 1: Africa with no representation in the government, then no direct 106 00:06:49,000 --> 00:06:52,960 Speaker 1: involvement in the political process. Black South Africans held a 107 00:06:53,000 --> 00:06:56,680 Speaker 1: convention as these constitutional meetings were being held, but it 108 00:06:56,800 --> 00:07:00,559 Speaker 1: wasn't officially recognized and it had no formal polityical power. 109 00:07:01,320 --> 00:07:04,000 Speaker 1: At the same time, after the Union of South Africa 110 00:07:04,040 --> 00:07:07,240 Speaker 1: went into effect in nineteen ten, it did seem like 111 00:07:07,400 --> 00:07:10,760 Speaker 1: some progress toward equality might be more possible than it 112 00:07:10,840 --> 00:07:14,400 Speaker 1: was before, particularly in terms of the Orange Free States 113 00:07:14,440 --> 00:07:19,320 Speaker 1: pass laws. People had already been protesting and circulating petitions 114 00:07:19,360 --> 00:07:22,640 Speaker 1: to try to have the pass laws overturned, but now 115 00:07:22,720 --> 00:07:25,760 Speaker 1: the petitions could be delivered to Prime Minister Louis Botha, 116 00:07:25,920 --> 00:07:28,920 Speaker 1: rather than the government of the Orange Free State. In 117 00:07:29,000 --> 00:07:32,280 Speaker 1: March of nineteen twelve, a group of black and multiracial 118 00:07:32,320 --> 00:07:35,680 Speaker 1: women from Orange Free State took a petition containing at 119 00:07:35,720 --> 00:07:39,840 Speaker 1: least five thousand signatures to the Prime Minister. The Prime 120 00:07:39,880 --> 00:07:42,880 Speaker 1: Minister didn't respond to this petition, so a group of 121 00:07:42,920 --> 00:07:47,760 Speaker 1: women instead appealed to Henry Burton, Minister of Native Affairs. 122 00:07:48,480 --> 00:07:51,600 Speaker 1: Burton had a reputation for trying to protect people of 123 00:07:51,640 --> 00:07:54,640 Speaker 1: color in South Africa, but he seems to have been 124 00:07:54,680 --> 00:07:58,840 Speaker 1: reluctant to weigh in on this. The so called native 125 00:07:58,960 --> 00:08:02,560 Speaker 1: question had been threaded through the efforts to establish a 126 00:08:02,640 --> 00:08:06,000 Speaker 1: minority white government in a region where white people were 127 00:08:06,520 --> 00:08:10,600 Speaker 1: a tiny percentage of the population, and the government taking 128 00:08:10,640 --> 00:08:13,440 Speaker 1: action on the Orange Free States pass laws had the 129 00:08:13,440 --> 00:08:17,240 Speaker 1: potential to just turn one province's laws into a much 130 00:08:17,280 --> 00:08:21,720 Speaker 1: more national issue. So he argued that the pass books 131 00:08:21,720 --> 00:08:24,560 Speaker 1: were a local issue that needed to be handled within 132 00:08:24,600 --> 00:08:27,320 Speaker 1: the province, not something to be handled by the South 133 00:08:27,360 --> 00:08:31,520 Speaker 1: African government. If Burton was hoping to avoid the development 134 00:08:31,520 --> 00:08:35,480 Speaker 1: of a national movement against discrimination in South Africa, that 135 00:08:35,559 --> 00:08:39,080 Speaker 1: did not work. The South African National Native Congress was 136 00:08:39,120 --> 00:08:42,160 Speaker 1: formed in nineteen twelve, and it became the African National 137 00:08:42,200 --> 00:08:46,160 Speaker 1: Congress or a n C in ninety three. We'll get 138 00:08:46,160 --> 00:08:49,840 Speaker 1: some more about how this developed after a sponsor break. 139 00:08:58,040 --> 00:09:01,680 Speaker 1: We are focused mainly on path Us laws in today's episode, 140 00:09:01,720 --> 00:09:04,720 Speaker 1: but they were of course, by far not the only 141 00:09:04,880 --> 00:09:08,040 Speaker 1: laws that contributed to the apartheid system that developed in 142 00:09:08,080 --> 00:09:13,319 Speaker 1: South Africa. As European colonies grew and expanded their influence, 143 00:09:13,400 --> 00:09:17,280 Speaker 1: the non white population of South Africa was increasingly forced 144 00:09:17,280 --> 00:09:22,079 Speaker 1: into smaller and smaller areas of land. Eventually, this evolved 145 00:09:22,120 --> 00:09:25,960 Speaker 1: into the formal establishment of segregated communities, which were the 146 00:09:26,040 --> 00:09:29,160 Speaker 1: only places that people of color were allowed to live. 147 00:09:29,800 --> 00:09:32,360 Speaker 1: For example, in the nineteen teens, people who tried to 148 00:09:32,400 --> 00:09:34,959 Speaker 1: move out of rural areas and the Orange Free State 149 00:09:35,520 --> 00:09:38,880 Speaker 1: mostly wound up in vay Hook, location outside of the 150 00:09:38,920 --> 00:09:43,360 Speaker 1: Free State capital of Bloemfontein. White authorities tried to implement 151 00:09:43,360 --> 00:09:47,160 Speaker 1: a past system to control people's movements into and out 152 00:09:47,160 --> 00:09:51,600 Speaker 1: of vay Hook. They also targeted black women, specifically claiming 153 00:09:51,640 --> 00:09:55,000 Speaker 1: that black women were engaging in sex work. Some black 154 00:09:55,040 --> 00:09:59,040 Speaker 1: women had also started supporting themselves by brewing and selling beer, 155 00:09:59,440 --> 00:10:04,280 Speaker 1: which white authorities claimed was damaging society. In May of 156 00:10:04,400 --> 00:10:08,640 Speaker 1: nineteen thirteen, a civil disobedience campaign started in the Orange 157 00:10:08,640 --> 00:10:12,520 Speaker 1: Free State. People started refusing to carry passes and just 158 00:10:12,679 --> 00:10:16,640 Speaker 1: saying they were prepared to be arrested. Women gathered and 159 00:10:16,760 --> 00:10:20,000 Speaker 1: tore up or burned their passes outside of government buildings. 160 00:10:20,679 --> 00:10:24,560 Speaker 1: A cycle of demonstrations and arrests went on all through 161 00:10:24,640 --> 00:10:29,480 Speaker 1: nineteen thirteen. In nineteen fourteen, the Prime Minister finally agreed 162 00:10:29,559 --> 00:10:33,080 Speaker 1: to review Orange Free States pass laws, but they remained 163 00:10:33,080 --> 00:10:37,000 Speaker 1: on the books until nineteen eighteen, with protests and demonstrations 164 00:10:37,040 --> 00:10:40,640 Speaker 1: against them going on at various points throughout those years. 165 00:10:41,720 --> 00:10:46,079 Speaker 1: Although the idea of mandatory passes faded from the forefront, 166 00:10:46,600 --> 00:10:50,840 Speaker 1: other discriminatory laws were passed over the following years. The 167 00:10:50,960 --> 00:10:54,720 Speaker 1: Natives Urban Areas Act of nineteen twenty three gave local 168 00:10:54,760 --> 00:10:58,679 Speaker 1: authorities the right to establish segregated areas on the outskirts 169 00:10:58,679 --> 00:11:01,760 Speaker 1: of cities and industrial areas and to force black people 170 00:11:01,800 --> 00:11:06,640 Speaker 1: to move into those areas. Cities or employers were expected 171 00:11:06,679 --> 00:11:10,120 Speaker 1: to provide housing in these areas, but money to maintain 172 00:11:10,200 --> 00:11:13,520 Speaker 1: that housing also came from things like fines and rent 173 00:11:13,679 --> 00:11:16,040 Speaker 1: that were charged to the people who were forced to 174 00:11:16,120 --> 00:11:19,880 Speaker 1: live there. In nineteen twenty seven, the law in South 175 00:11:19,920 --> 00:11:23,880 Speaker 1: Africa effectively treated black women as miners rather than as 176 00:11:23,920 --> 00:11:28,120 Speaker 1: full adults with any sort of legal authority. By nineteen thirty, 177 00:11:28,200 --> 00:11:31,520 Speaker 1: only thirteen percent of the land area in South Africa 178 00:11:31,920 --> 00:11:35,439 Speaker 1: was open for black people to live on. For context, 179 00:11:35,520 --> 00:11:38,599 Speaker 1: by that point, South Africa had a black population of 180 00:11:38,640 --> 00:11:42,800 Speaker 1: about twenty million people and a white population of about 181 00:11:42,920 --> 00:11:46,960 Speaker 1: four million people, so those roughly one fifth of the 182 00:11:47,000 --> 00:11:50,400 Speaker 1: population had control of eighty seven percent of the land. 183 00:11:51,160 --> 00:11:53,319 Speaker 1: The quality of the land was part of it too. 184 00:11:53,800 --> 00:11:56,920 Speaker 1: The reserves that were designated for black people were generally 185 00:11:57,000 --> 00:12:02,000 Speaker 1: the poorest land with access to the fewest sources. Prior 186 00:12:02,080 --> 00:12:05,240 Speaker 1: to the nineteen thirties, most domestic workers in South Africa 187 00:12:05,280 --> 00:12:08,000 Speaker 1: had been men, but by the mid thirties that started 188 00:12:08,040 --> 00:12:12,680 Speaker 1: to shift. More women started traveling or moving to cities, 189 00:12:12,840 --> 00:12:16,480 Speaker 1: some just looking for work, others trying to reunite with 190 00:12:16,559 --> 00:12:19,480 Speaker 1: husbands or other family members who had done the same. 191 00:12:20,280 --> 00:12:24,560 Speaker 1: Cities and provincial government started passing more restrictive laws to 192 00:12:24,640 --> 00:12:28,320 Speaker 1: try to allow black people to enter cities only to 193 00:12:28,520 --> 00:12:31,920 Speaker 1: work and not to live. Because people tried to find 194 00:12:32,080 --> 00:12:35,000 Speaker 1: some way to live closer to the places they worked, 195 00:12:35,200 --> 00:12:38,760 Speaker 1: squatter camps were established around the perimeters of cities, and 196 00:12:38,800 --> 00:12:42,760 Speaker 1: of course those camps were then targeted by white communities 197 00:12:42,800 --> 00:12:45,680 Speaker 1: who did not want them to be there. The all 198 00:12:45,760 --> 00:12:49,120 Speaker 1: white National Party came to power in South Africa after 199 00:12:49,160 --> 00:12:52,960 Speaker 1: the nineteen forty eight election, and while segregation and other 200 00:12:53,000 --> 00:12:56,240 Speaker 1: forms of discrimination had existed in South Africa since the 201 00:12:56,280 --> 00:13:00,160 Speaker 1: start of colonization, it was this party that implemented the 202 00:13:00,200 --> 00:13:03,319 Speaker 1: set of laws that came to be known as apartheid. 203 00:13:03,320 --> 00:13:07,040 Speaker 1: These built on existing laws and systems of discrimination, including 204 00:13:07,080 --> 00:13:09,880 Speaker 1: ones that we have not discussed in this episode because 205 00:13:09,880 --> 00:13:12,360 Speaker 1: there were so many we would just read a list 206 00:13:12,440 --> 00:13:14,640 Speaker 1: if we tried to get into them. All. Yeah, some 207 00:13:14,760 --> 00:13:17,680 Speaker 1: of the biggest laws that were passed after the National 208 00:13:17,760 --> 00:13:21,360 Speaker 1: Party came to power. This is an overview. There was 209 00:13:21,400 --> 00:13:24,440 Speaker 1: the Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act that was passed in 210 00:13:24,559 --> 00:13:28,200 Speaker 1: nineteen forty nine. It prohibited marriages between white people and 211 00:13:28,240 --> 00:13:32,760 Speaker 1: people of any other racial group. The Population Registration Act 212 00:13:32,800 --> 00:13:38,200 Speaker 1: of nineteen fifty legally classified anyone in South Africa as black, white, 213 00:13:38,320 --> 00:13:41,960 Speaker 1: or colored. Initially, Asians were included in the colored group, 214 00:13:42,440 --> 00:13:45,120 Speaker 1: but they were separated out into their own category of 215 00:13:45,240 --> 00:13:49,760 Speaker 1: Indian later on. The group areas Act of nineteen fifty 216 00:13:49,800 --> 00:13:53,760 Speaker 1: outlined where people of different races could live, with people 217 00:13:53,800 --> 00:13:57,600 Speaker 1: who were in the wrong places forced to move. And again, 218 00:13:57,960 --> 00:14:01,360 Speaker 1: with more than eighty percent of South Africa designated for 219 00:14:01,520 --> 00:14:06,120 Speaker 1: whites only, the Bands Who Authorities Act of nineteen fifty 220 00:14:06,120 --> 00:14:10,120 Speaker 1: one established so called home lands for black South Africans, 221 00:14:10,160 --> 00:14:14,640 Speaker 1: with those whole lands given a purportedly independent status, but 222 00:14:14,800 --> 00:14:18,760 Speaker 1: anybody who moved into one of those homelands lost their 223 00:14:18,760 --> 00:14:22,560 Speaker 1: South African citizenship and any rights and privileges that went 224 00:14:22,600 --> 00:14:26,480 Speaker 1: along with it. The African National Congress and the South 225 00:14:26,520 --> 00:14:31,440 Speaker 1: African Indian Congress started a campaign of coordinated civil disobedience 226 00:14:31,520 --> 00:14:34,760 Speaker 1: in response to these and other laws, known as the 227 00:14:34,840 --> 00:14:39,120 Speaker 1: Defiance Campaign for the Defiance of Unjust Laws, that was 228 00:14:39,200 --> 00:14:43,400 Speaker 1: launched on June nineteen fifty two, with volunteers doing things 229 00:14:43,440 --> 00:14:48,680 Speaker 1: like intentionally using whites only facilities and being arrested and 230 00:14:48,800 --> 00:14:52,800 Speaker 1: jailed as a result. Women were part of the Defiance campaign. 231 00:14:53,120 --> 00:14:55,120 Speaker 1: The a n C had started to allow women as 232 00:14:55,160 --> 00:14:57,800 Speaker 1: members in nineteen forty three and the a n C 233 00:14:58,080 --> 00:15:02,880 Speaker 1: Women's League had been established in nine Then, in addition 234 00:15:02,920 --> 00:15:05,760 Speaker 1: to the laws we just mentioned and others, there was 235 00:15:05,800 --> 00:15:10,040 Speaker 1: the Natives Abolition of Passes in Coordination of Documents Act 236 00:15:10,080 --> 00:15:14,720 Speaker 1: of nineteen fifty two. This repealed earlier pass laws that 237 00:15:14,760 --> 00:15:18,200 Speaker 1: were still on the books, and it introduced a new 238 00:15:18,560 --> 00:15:23,440 Speaker 1: standardized passbook that all black men would be required to carry. 239 00:15:23,720 --> 00:15:26,800 Speaker 1: Requiring only black men to carry papers would have been 240 00:15:26,840 --> 00:15:31,560 Speaker 1: discriminatory on its own, but this passbook also went way 241 00:15:31,600 --> 00:15:34,400 Speaker 1: beyond something like a passport or a basic I D. 242 00:15:35,360 --> 00:15:38,760 Speaker 1: It contained the person's photograph and information about where they 243 00:15:38,760 --> 00:15:43,760 Speaker 1: were from, but it also included unemployment record, tax records, fingerprints, 244 00:15:43,760 --> 00:15:48,000 Speaker 1: and police records. In addition to these requirements, this law 245 00:15:48,080 --> 00:15:50,880 Speaker 1: also required black people to get a permit if they 246 00:15:50,920 --> 00:15:54,040 Speaker 1: wanted to move, and anybody arriving in a city to 247 00:15:54,120 --> 00:15:56,640 Speaker 1: try to find work had to have a permit within 248 00:15:56,800 --> 00:16:01,400 Speaker 1: seventy two hours of getting there. Initially, this act applied 249 00:16:01,440 --> 00:16:04,560 Speaker 1: only to black men, but a lot of black women 250 00:16:04,680 --> 00:16:07,880 Speaker 1: also lived and worked in cities or otherwise needed to 251 00:16:07,920 --> 00:16:10,560 Speaker 1: move around South Africa for their lives and their work. 252 00:16:11,320 --> 00:16:14,520 Speaker 1: The Native Laws Amendment Act, which was also passed in 253 00:16:14,600 --> 00:16:18,640 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty two, had further tightened requirements on where non 254 00:16:18,680 --> 00:16:21,640 Speaker 1: white people were allowed to live in work, and its 255 00:16:21,760 --> 00:16:25,840 Speaker 1: terms exempted women who met specific criteria from needing to 256 00:16:25,880 --> 00:16:29,960 Speaker 1: carry passes, but in many cities and towns, local authorities 257 00:16:30,000 --> 00:16:34,520 Speaker 1: started requiring them anyway. This started mainly in the Western Cape, 258 00:16:34,560 --> 00:16:38,640 Speaker 1: where the government had established a restrictive quote colored preference 259 00:16:38,720 --> 00:16:42,040 Speaker 1: area with strict controls on who could enter and who 260 00:16:42,040 --> 00:16:45,000 Speaker 1: could live there. So, in addition to the other work 261 00:16:45,000 --> 00:16:47,760 Speaker 1: they were doing with the Defiance campaign, women in South 262 00:16:47,760 --> 00:16:51,240 Speaker 1: Africa were pushing back on the requirements for women to 263 00:16:51,320 --> 00:16:56,320 Speaker 1: carry passes. On January fourth, ninety three, hundreds of people 264 00:16:56,400 --> 00:17:00,360 Speaker 1: protested in Cape Town. Dora Tamana of the a See 265 00:17:00,440 --> 00:17:03,200 Speaker 1: Women's League gave a speech that set in part quote, 266 00:17:03,240 --> 00:17:07,000 Speaker 1: we women will never carry these passes. This is something 267 00:17:07,000 --> 00:17:10,560 Speaker 1: that touches my heart. I appeal to you young Africans 268 00:17:10,600 --> 00:17:13,800 Speaker 1: to come forward and fight. These passes make the road 269 00:17:14,040 --> 00:17:18,760 Speaker 1: even narrower for us. We have seen unemployment, lack of 270 00:17:18,760 --> 00:17:23,600 Speaker 1: accommodation and families broken because of passes. We have seen 271 00:17:23,680 --> 00:17:27,120 Speaker 1: it with our men, who will look after our children 272 00:17:27,160 --> 00:17:30,720 Speaker 1: when we go to jail for a small technical offense 273 00:17:30,880 --> 00:17:34,359 Speaker 1: not having a pass. Tomato was also part of the 274 00:17:34,400 --> 00:17:37,320 Speaker 1: Federation of South African Women when it was established in 275 00:17:37,400 --> 00:17:42,760 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty four. Other founders included Amina Cachalia, Lillian Goy, 276 00:17:43,320 --> 00:17:47,080 Speaker 1: Ray Simons and Helen Joseph. The leaders of the Federation 277 00:17:47,119 --> 00:17:49,840 Speaker 1: of South African Women came from all of South Africa's 278 00:17:49,920 --> 00:17:52,639 Speaker 1: racial groups, and it was meant to be an organization 279 00:17:52,680 --> 00:17:56,000 Speaker 1: for all women of all races, with goals related to 280 00:17:56,040 --> 00:18:01,240 Speaker 1: equality regardless of sex and equality regardless of race. The 281 00:18:01,280 --> 00:18:04,520 Speaker 1: Federation of South African Women held its first conference in 282 00:18:04,640 --> 00:18:09,919 Speaker 1: Johannesburg on April seventeenth, nineteen fifty four. A women's charter 283 00:18:10,119 --> 00:18:13,639 Speaker 1: that was drafted at the conference began with this preamble quote, 284 00:18:13,720 --> 00:18:17,119 Speaker 1: We the women of South Africa, wives and mothers, working 285 00:18:17,160 --> 00:18:23,160 Speaker 1: women in housewives, African, Indians, European and Colored hereby declare 286 00:18:23,200 --> 00:18:27,879 Speaker 1: our aim of striving for the removal of all laws, regulations, 287 00:18:27,960 --> 00:18:32,560 Speaker 1: conventions and customs that discriminate against us as women, and 288 00:18:32,600 --> 00:18:35,560 Speaker 1: that deprive us in any way of our inherent right 289 00:18:35,600 --> 00:18:40,199 Speaker 1: to the advantages, responsibilities, and opportunities that society offers to 290 00:18:40,359 --> 00:18:44,959 Speaker 1: any one section of the population. The charter then walks 291 00:18:44,960 --> 00:18:47,920 Speaker 1: through an overview of the state of affairs in South Africa, 292 00:18:48,200 --> 00:18:52,119 Speaker 1: including its systems of discrimination and poverty, and the loss 293 00:18:52,160 --> 00:18:55,880 Speaker 1: of social structures in African and Asian communities which had 294 00:18:55,880 --> 00:18:59,840 Speaker 1: been dismantled through colonization. It also noted that the women 295 00:18:59,840 --> 00:19:03,240 Speaker 1: of South Africa were legally treated as miners with little 296 00:19:03,280 --> 00:19:08,240 Speaker 1: access to education or support. This charter also outlined a 297 00:19:08,280 --> 00:19:11,240 Speaker 1: set of aims. They were quote the right to vote 298 00:19:11,280 --> 00:19:14,280 Speaker 1: and to be elected to all state bodies without restriction 299 00:19:14,520 --> 00:19:18,719 Speaker 1: or discrimination. The rights of full opportunities for employment with 300 00:19:18,840 --> 00:19:22,720 Speaker 1: equal pay and possibilities of promotion and all spheres of work. 301 00:19:23,359 --> 00:19:27,200 Speaker 1: Equal rights with men in relation to property, marriage, and children. 302 00:19:27,240 --> 00:19:30,040 Speaker 1: And for the removal of all laws and customs that 303 00:19:30,119 --> 00:19:34,080 Speaker 1: deny women such equal rights. For the development of every 304 00:19:34,200 --> 00:19:38,720 Speaker 1: child through free compulsory education for all. For the protection 305 00:19:38,760 --> 00:19:42,840 Speaker 1: of mother and child through maternity homes, welfare clinics, crushes 306 00:19:42,920 --> 00:19:47,400 Speaker 1: and nursery schools in countryside and towns, through proper homes 307 00:19:47,440 --> 00:19:51,800 Speaker 1: for all, and through the provision of water, light, transport, sanitation, 308 00:19:51,840 --> 00:19:56,239 Speaker 1: and other amenities of modern civilization. For the removal of 309 00:19:56,280 --> 00:19:59,840 Speaker 1: all laws that restrict free movement, that prevent or hinder 310 00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:04,560 Speaker 1: the right of free association and activity in democratic organizations, 311 00:20:05,040 --> 00:20:08,119 Speaker 1: and the right to participate in the work of these organizations. 312 00:20:09,000 --> 00:20:13,400 Speaker 1: To build and strengthen women's sections in the national liberatory movements, 313 00:20:13,760 --> 00:20:17,320 Speaker 1: the organization of women in trade unions and through the 314 00:20:17,320 --> 00:20:23,080 Speaker 1: People's Varied Organization to cooperate with all other organizations that 315 00:20:23,119 --> 00:20:26,119 Speaker 1: have similar aims in South Africa as well as throughout 316 00:20:26,119 --> 00:20:30,080 Speaker 1: the world to strive for permanent peace throughout the world. 317 00:20:30,800 --> 00:20:33,960 Speaker 1: In nineteen fifty five, a multi racial group of people 318 00:20:34,080 --> 00:20:37,439 Speaker 1: and organizations meant in Cliptown at the Congress of the People. 319 00:20:38,200 --> 00:20:41,520 Speaker 1: The Freedom Charter that was drafted at this congress incorporated 320 00:20:41,560 --> 00:20:44,360 Speaker 1: the aims from the Women's Charter. But we will talk 321 00:20:44,400 --> 00:20:47,760 Speaker 1: about how the nineteen fifty six protest that was coordinated 322 00:20:47,760 --> 00:20:50,960 Speaker 1: by a lot of these same women evolved after a 323 00:20:51,000 --> 00:21:04,200 Speaker 1: sponsor break. As soon as national, provincial, and local governments 324 00:21:04,200 --> 00:21:07,960 Speaker 1: in South Africa started requiring that women carry passes, women 325 00:21:08,080 --> 00:21:12,040 Speaker 1: started refusing to do it, including refusing to even have 326 00:21:12,119 --> 00:21:16,240 Speaker 1: a pass issued to them, and Winburg, Orange Free State 327 00:21:16,359 --> 00:21:21,000 Speaker 1: employers personally escorted black employees to the pass office, telling 328 00:21:21,040 --> 00:21:23,480 Speaker 1: them that they were just being issued papers that would 329 00:21:23,480 --> 00:21:27,159 Speaker 1: allow them to travel freely. Once people realized what was 330 00:21:27,240 --> 00:21:30,800 Speaker 1: really going on, women in Winburg organized a march to 331 00:21:30,840 --> 00:21:35,520 Speaker 1: the magistrate's court and burned their passes publicly. On March 332 00:21:36,400 --> 00:21:40,719 Speaker 1: ninety five, about two thousand women of all races marched 333 00:21:40,720 --> 00:21:43,359 Speaker 1: to the Union Buildings in Pretoria, which are the seat 334 00:21:43,400 --> 00:21:46,920 Speaker 1: of the South African government, to protest the pass laws. 335 00:21:47,560 --> 00:21:50,840 Speaker 1: After this, the Federation of South African Women started planning 336 00:21:50,880 --> 00:21:54,800 Speaker 1: a larger protest march, one that would again involve women 337 00:21:54,800 --> 00:21:58,040 Speaker 1: of all races. This was the march that took place 338 00:21:58,080 --> 00:22:01,800 Speaker 1: on August nine, nineteen fifty six x. This was a Thursday, 339 00:22:01,880 --> 00:22:06,360 Speaker 1: chosen because black domestic workers had Thursdays off and organizers 340 00:22:06,400 --> 00:22:09,360 Speaker 1: wanted as many women as possible to be able to attend. 341 00:22:10,080 --> 00:22:12,960 Speaker 1: Women who didn't live in Pretoria arrived in the area 342 00:22:13,040 --> 00:22:16,040 Speaker 1: the night before, and on the ninth they walked to 343 00:22:16,080 --> 00:22:19,080 Speaker 1: the Union Buildings and groups of two and three because 344 00:22:19,160 --> 00:22:23,520 Speaker 1: non white people were not permitted to gather in large groups. 345 00:22:23,560 --> 00:22:27,600 Speaker 1: Somewhere between ten thousand and twenty thousand women ultimately arrived 346 00:22:27,600 --> 00:22:29,960 Speaker 1: at the Union Buildings and it took two and a 347 00:22:30,000 --> 00:22:32,720 Speaker 1: half hours to get everyone inside the area where the 348 00:22:32,760 --> 00:22:36,600 Speaker 1: protests was taking place. Many women had their children with 349 00:22:36,640 --> 00:22:39,000 Speaker 1: them or the children that they were paid to care for. 350 00:22:39,880 --> 00:22:43,960 Speaker 1: Some were dressed in their domestic uniforms, some in traditional clothing. 351 00:22:44,480 --> 00:22:47,800 Speaker 1: There was a really broad spectrum of ethnicity, race, and 352 00:22:47,920 --> 00:22:53,480 Speaker 1: class represented. Leaders of the march included Raheema Musa, Lillian Goy, 353 00:22:53,880 --> 00:22:57,760 Speaker 1: Helen Joseph, and Sophia Williams. At the age of eighteen. 354 00:22:57,880 --> 00:23:00,720 Speaker 1: Williams was the youngest of the march leaders, and she 355 00:23:00,880 --> 00:23:05,000 Speaker 1: later married and became Sophia Williams Dubrain. The leaders of 356 00:23:05,040 --> 00:23:09,240 Speaker 1: the march had a petition with about fourteen thousand signatures 357 00:23:09,280 --> 00:23:12,080 Speaker 1: which they were going to present to Prime Minister J. G. 358 00:23:12,359 --> 00:23:15,679 Speaker 1: Straight Um. This petition read quote, we the women of 359 00:23:15,680 --> 00:23:19,080 Speaker 1: South Africa have come here today. We African women know 360 00:23:19,240 --> 00:23:21,719 Speaker 1: too well the effect of this law upon our homes, 361 00:23:21,760 --> 00:23:25,720 Speaker 1: our children. We who are not African women, know how 362 00:23:25,760 --> 00:23:30,320 Speaker 1: our sisters suffer. For to us, an insult to African 363 00:23:30,320 --> 00:23:33,960 Speaker 1: women is an insult to all women. That homes will 364 00:23:34,000 --> 00:23:37,320 Speaker 1: be broken up when women are arrested under past laws. 365 00:23:37,359 --> 00:23:40,120 Speaker 1: That women and young girls will be exposed to humiliation 366 00:23:40,200 --> 00:23:44,480 Speaker 1: and degradation at the hands of past searching policemen. That 367 00:23:44,560 --> 00:23:47,240 Speaker 1: women will lose their right to move freely from one 368 00:23:47,280 --> 00:23:51,359 Speaker 1: place to another. We voters and vote lists, call upon 369 00:23:51,440 --> 00:23:55,000 Speaker 1: your government not to issue passes to African women. We 370 00:23:55,040 --> 00:23:57,840 Speaker 1: shall resist until we have one for our children. Their 371 00:23:57,880 --> 00:24:02,199 Speaker 1: fundamental rights of freedom, just and security. A group of 372 00:24:02,240 --> 00:24:05,440 Speaker 1: representatives who tried to enter the Union buildings were also 373 00:24:05,520 --> 00:24:09,440 Speaker 1: turned away because they were integrated. March leader Lillian Goi 374 00:24:09,640 --> 00:24:12,920 Speaker 1: was quoted as saying, quote, the women of Africa are outside. 375 00:24:13,080 --> 00:24:15,919 Speaker 1: They built this place and their husbands died for this. 376 00:24:16,920 --> 00:24:19,320 Speaker 1: Although the plan had been to present this petition to 377 00:24:19,440 --> 00:24:22,720 Speaker 1: the Prime Minister, he and his staff had left the building, 378 00:24:23,320 --> 00:24:26,040 Speaker 1: so once some of the women were finally allowed inside, 379 00:24:26,119 --> 00:24:30,600 Speaker 1: they left piles of signed petitions outside his office. In 380 00:24:30,720 --> 00:24:34,040 Speaker 1: the end, the assembled women stood outside the Union buildings 381 00:24:34,040 --> 00:24:37,560 Speaker 1: in silence for half an hour before leaving. They also 382 00:24:37,760 --> 00:24:40,640 Speaker 1: sang a freedom song. Part of it translates to when 383 00:24:40,680 --> 00:24:43,840 Speaker 1: you strike a woman, you strike a rock. This became 384 00:24:43,880 --> 00:24:47,600 Speaker 1: a slogan for women's liberation in South Africa, sometimes followed 385 00:24:47,640 --> 00:24:51,640 Speaker 1: by subsequent lines that are translated as you have dislodged 386 00:24:51,720 --> 00:24:55,320 Speaker 1: a boulder, you will be crushed, well choked up. Those 387 00:24:55,359 --> 00:25:00,720 Speaker 1: are great. It's a slogan that's still shows up on 388 00:25:01,440 --> 00:25:04,160 Speaker 1: on posters and at protests and things, both in South 389 00:25:04,200 --> 00:25:08,280 Speaker 1: Africa and elsewhere. So this march did not lead to 390 00:25:08,400 --> 00:25:12,320 Speaker 1: an end to pass requirements for women, but women's activism 391 00:25:12,400 --> 00:25:16,080 Speaker 1: did influence when and how those laws were enforced. For 392 00:25:16,119 --> 00:25:19,480 Speaker 1: the most part, enforcement started in more rural areas where 393 00:25:19,520 --> 00:25:22,000 Speaker 1: fewer of the women were organized and there wasn't as 394 00:25:22,080 --> 00:25:25,399 Speaker 1: much of a social support network for resisting the laws. 395 00:25:26,040 --> 00:25:29,240 Speaker 1: From their enforcement rolled out to bigger towns and cities, 396 00:25:29,280 --> 00:25:34,000 Speaker 1: with enforcement starting in Johannesburg in nineteen fifty eight. However, 397 00:25:34,160 --> 00:25:36,840 Speaker 1: this march was a turning point in the movement for 398 00:25:36,920 --> 00:25:40,960 Speaker 1: women's liberation in South Africa and for women's involvement in 399 00:25:41,000 --> 00:25:45,080 Speaker 1: the fight against apartheid. As we mentioned earlier, women had 400 00:25:45,119 --> 00:25:48,320 Speaker 1: been part of this from the beginning, but the African 401 00:25:48,400 --> 00:25:51,560 Speaker 1: National Congress had only started allowing women as full members 402 00:25:51,560 --> 00:25:55,679 Speaker 1: in nineteen forty three. This nineteen fifty six march was 403 00:25:55,760 --> 00:25:59,639 Speaker 1: the largest demonstration that the Federation of South African Women 404 00:25:59,680 --> 00:26:02,600 Speaker 1: had coordinated up to that point, so this made women's 405 00:26:02,760 --> 00:26:07,560 Speaker 1: ongoing political involvement just that much more visible, and that 406 00:26:07,640 --> 00:26:11,439 Speaker 1: involvement was carried on through a campaign of civil disobedience, 407 00:26:11,600 --> 00:26:15,520 Speaker 1: with women refusing to carry passes and facing arrest as 408 00:26:15,560 --> 00:26:19,320 Speaker 1: a result. So many women did this in Johannesburg that 409 00:26:19,359 --> 00:26:23,720 Speaker 1: the jail became seriously overcrowded, but this also led to 410 00:26:23,760 --> 00:26:26,359 Speaker 1: concerns within the A and C about how to pay 411 00:26:26,359 --> 00:26:30,320 Speaker 1: for the legal fees of the arrested women. Ultimately, the 412 00:26:30,400 --> 00:26:33,840 Speaker 1: A and C ended the formal anti past disobedience campaign 413 00:26:34,000 --> 00:26:38,320 Speaker 1: for this reason. The leaders of the march also faced consequences. 414 00:26:38,359 --> 00:26:41,240 Speaker 1: I mean, everybody who was doing this work was doing 415 00:26:41,320 --> 00:26:43,679 Speaker 1: so at risk to their life and the lives of 416 00:26:43,720 --> 00:26:47,520 Speaker 1: their families. In nineteen fifty six, a hundred and fifty 417 00:26:47,600 --> 00:26:50,720 Speaker 1: six people in South Africa were tried for treason. This 418 00:26:50,880 --> 00:26:56,040 Speaker 1: included marchers and organizers Helen Joseph, Lillian Nigoy, Bertha Mashaba, 419 00:26:56,119 --> 00:27:00,199 Speaker 1: and Francis Bard, among others. Although all the defendants in 420 00:27:00,320 --> 00:27:04,080 Speaker 1: that trial were found not guilty, it lasted until nineteen 421 00:27:04,160 --> 00:27:07,960 Speaker 1: sixty one and it was an intentionally traumatizing experience for 422 00:27:08,000 --> 00:27:12,760 Speaker 1: the people facing trial. Some of the defendants, including Nelson Mandela, 423 00:27:12,920 --> 00:27:16,719 Speaker 1: were tried for treason a second time in nineteen sixty 424 00:27:16,760 --> 00:27:20,520 Speaker 1: three and sixty four, and that time convicted. Although the 425 00:27:20,520 --> 00:27:25,399 Speaker 1: women's march to Pretoria was peaceful, later demonstrations against apartheid 426 00:27:25,440 --> 00:27:29,560 Speaker 1: became violent. In nineteen fifty nine, authorities in Durban started 427 00:27:29,560 --> 00:27:32,520 Speaker 1: trying to enforce pass laws and to stop women from 428 00:27:32,560 --> 00:27:35,919 Speaker 1: brewing and selling beer. This led to a series of 429 00:27:36,040 --> 00:27:40,600 Speaker 1: riots in nineteen sixty in which nine police officers were killed. Then, 430 00:27:40,640 --> 00:27:44,280 Speaker 1: on March twenty first, nineteen sixty, police opened fire during 431 00:27:44,280 --> 00:27:47,920 Speaker 1: a demonstration against pass laws and Sharpville, killing at least 432 00:27:47,960 --> 00:27:52,440 Speaker 1: sixty nine people and wounding almost two hundred more. This 433 00:27:52,600 --> 00:27:56,520 Speaker 1: became known as the Sharpville massacre, and it's simultaneously raised 434 00:27:56,560 --> 00:28:00,920 Speaker 1: international awareness and criticism of apartheid condition in South Africa, 435 00:28:01,400 --> 00:28:04,200 Speaker 1: and it also led the government to crack down further 436 00:28:04,359 --> 00:28:08,960 Speaker 1: on the anti apartheid movement. Afterward, the government banned both 437 00:28:09,000 --> 00:28:12,800 Speaker 1: the African National Congress and the Pan Africanist Congress and 438 00:28:12,960 --> 00:28:16,640 Speaker 1: imprisoned many of their leaders or forced them into exile. 439 00:28:17,680 --> 00:28:22,400 Speaker 1: Resistance to apartheid and violent response to that resistance continued 440 00:28:22,440 --> 00:28:26,119 Speaker 1: for years. In nineteen seventy six, the government made the 441 00:28:26,160 --> 00:28:30,280 Speaker 1: study of Afrikaans mandatory in schools, and in response, the 442 00:28:30,320 --> 00:28:35,280 Speaker 1: South African Students Movement began coordinating protests among children. On 443 00:28:35,400 --> 00:28:39,120 Speaker 1: June sixteenth, nineteen seventy six, thousands of children took part 444 00:28:39,200 --> 00:28:41,840 Speaker 1: in a protest march that was met by police who 445 00:28:41,840 --> 00:28:45,840 Speaker 1: fired live ammunition and tear gas at them. This led 446 00:28:45,880 --> 00:28:48,600 Speaker 1: to an uprising in which hundreds of people were killed. 447 00:28:49,040 --> 00:28:53,360 Speaker 1: The international community responded with increasing restrictions and sanctions against 448 00:28:53,400 --> 00:28:57,440 Speaker 1: South Africa. Apartheid laws in South Africa finally began to 449 00:28:57,480 --> 00:29:01,520 Speaker 1: be dismantled in the nineteen eighties. The Natives Abolition of 450 00:29:01,560 --> 00:29:05,440 Speaker 1: Passes and Coordination of Documents Act of nineteen fifty two 451 00:29:05,520 --> 00:29:10,120 Speaker 1: was repealed. In nineteen eighty six, South African President FW 452 00:29:10,360 --> 00:29:13,400 Speaker 1: de Clerk called for a total end to apartheid. After 453 00:29:13,440 --> 00:29:17,360 Speaker 1: being elected in nineteen eighty nine. He repealed the bands 454 00:29:17,400 --> 00:29:21,680 Speaker 1: on anti apartheid organizations and allowed exiled political leaders to 455 00:29:21,760 --> 00:29:26,000 Speaker 1: return to South Africa. An interim constitution was drawn up 456 00:29:26,000 --> 00:29:29,040 Speaker 1: in nineteen ninety three, and in nineteen ninety four, South 457 00:29:29,080 --> 00:29:34,400 Speaker 1: Africa held its first non racial democratic election. On August nine, 458 00:29:35,760 --> 00:29:38,600 Speaker 1: the Women's Day holiday was observed in South Africa for 459 00:29:38,640 --> 00:29:41,960 Speaker 1: the first time, and all of August is observed as 460 00:29:42,000 --> 00:29:45,000 Speaker 1: Women's Month. A re enactment of the march was held 461 00:29:45,000 --> 00:29:47,960 Speaker 1: for its fiftieth anniversary in two thousand and six, with 462 00:29:48,040 --> 00:29:53,120 Speaker 1: many of the original marchers participating. Today, annual Women's Day 463 00:29:53,120 --> 00:29:57,520 Speaker 1: observances in South Africa often include reflections on how far 464 00:29:57,680 --> 00:30:00,800 Speaker 1: things have come and how far they still have to go. 465 00:30:01,520 --> 00:30:04,480 Speaker 1: For example, I watched recordings of a lot of Women's 466 00:30:04,520 --> 00:30:08,320 Speaker 1: Day speeches from one and they included things like an 467 00:30:08,360 --> 00:30:12,680 Speaker 1: ongoing epidemic of gender based violence in South Africa and 468 00:30:12,760 --> 00:30:17,120 Speaker 1: how the COVID nineteen pandemic has affected women. Do you 469 00:30:17,160 --> 00:30:20,920 Speaker 1: have a little listener mail? I do I have listener mail. 470 00:30:20,960 --> 00:30:23,680 Speaker 1: It's about another serious episode of the show. But uh 471 00:30:23,800 --> 00:30:26,920 Speaker 1: not an email that I would call up setting it anyway. Uh. 472 00:30:26,960 --> 00:30:31,400 Speaker 1: This is from Robin. Robin wrote, Holly and Tracy, I 473 00:30:31,520 --> 00:30:34,400 Speaker 1: just listened to your episode about the Holadamoor. It meant 474 00:30:34,400 --> 00:30:36,720 Speaker 1: a lot to me. I live in Alberta, which, as 475 00:30:36,760 --> 00:30:40,560 Speaker 1: you noted, has a huge Ukrainian population. I had not 476 00:30:40,640 --> 00:30:43,680 Speaker 1: known that or much Ukrainian history when I moved here, 477 00:30:43,720 --> 00:30:46,239 Speaker 1: so it's been a fun learning curve from me. I 478 00:30:46,280 --> 00:30:48,239 Speaker 1: grew up in the States and have been listening to 479 00:30:48,280 --> 00:30:52,000 Speaker 1: YouTube since shortly before I moved. I really love how 480 00:30:52,040 --> 00:30:55,480 Speaker 1: Alberta continues to honor. Honor is spelled with a you 481 00:30:55,840 --> 00:30:58,280 Speaker 1: and so then Robin has a brother Seas. Since moving here, 482 00:30:58,320 --> 00:31:01,120 Speaker 1: I've adopted most Canadian spell things. I even say z 483 00:31:01,640 --> 00:31:05,719 Speaker 1: not z these days. Uh. So, to return to how 484 00:31:06,040 --> 00:31:09,920 Speaker 1: Alberta has has honored Ukraine, UM, I thought I would 485 00:31:09,960 --> 00:31:12,160 Speaker 1: share a couple of the cool things in my area 486 00:31:12,200 --> 00:31:16,640 Speaker 1: that mark this historic connection. City Hall in Edmonton has 487 00:31:16,720 --> 00:31:20,120 Speaker 1: the first public monument in Canada remembering the holadam or 488 00:31:20,480 --> 00:31:23,160 Speaker 1: I don't think the picture doesn't justice. I still remember 489 00:31:23,240 --> 00:31:25,360 Speaker 1: being struck by it the first time I saw it. 490 00:31:25,960 --> 00:31:30,640 Speaker 1: A town in eastern Alberta has a giant pissnka that 491 00:31:30,840 --> 00:31:35,440 Speaker 1: is a Ukrainian Easter egg. Um. And there's an article 492 00:31:35,520 --> 00:31:39,400 Speaker 1: that Robin included that says, uh, this assumes that you 493 00:31:39,480 --> 00:31:42,760 Speaker 1: know that the yellow head is part of the Cross 494 00:31:42,880 --> 00:31:46,560 Speaker 1: Canada Highway. And so the link is to an article 495 00:31:46,600 --> 00:31:51,240 Speaker 1: at Wikipedia. Uh, that's about this gigantic structure of one 496 00:31:51,280 --> 00:31:54,800 Speaker 1: of these eggs, and it really is very beautiful and striking. 497 00:31:55,680 --> 00:31:58,400 Speaker 1: The thing that the invasion brought to light was the 498 00:31:58,480 --> 00:32:02,800 Speaker 1: historic connections between Ukrainian immigrants and First Nations people. Here's 499 00:32:02,800 --> 00:32:05,640 Speaker 1: an article about that from a p t in an 500 00:32:05,680 --> 00:32:09,800 Speaker 1: indigenous news source. Uh. And the article that is linked 501 00:32:09,960 --> 00:32:15,400 Speaker 1: is about Ukrainian and First Nations women coming together through 502 00:32:15,520 --> 00:32:20,960 Speaker 1: scarves that are related to each of these two different groups. 503 00:32:21,040 --> 00:32:24,080 Speaker 1: So um, all of that is so interesting. And then 504 00:32:24,200 --> 00:32:26,479 Speaker 1: Robin says, I'm including a picture of our new puppy 505 00:32:26,560 --> 00:32:30,240 Speaker 1: because everyone deserves cute puppy pictures. He is the goodest boy. 506 00:32:31,120 --> 00:32:36,240 Speaker 1: This is a very fluffy chocolate brown dog with little 507 00:32:36,320 --> 00:32:39,640 Speaker 1: chocolate brown nose and chocolate brown eyes. And I want 508 00:32:39,720 --> 00:32:45,040 Speaker 1: to put pets is very fluffy fur uh. So thank 509 00:32:45,080 --> 00:32:47,480 Speaker 1: you Robin for this email and these links. I had 510 00:32:47,560 --> 00:32:51,160 Speaker 1: never seen any of these things before. I had seen 511 00:32:51,160 --> 00:32:53,560 Speaker 1: those Easter eggs, but I didn't notice that I didn't 512 00:32:53,560 --> 00:32:56,480 Speaker 1: know the name of them, so that was all very cool. 513 00:32:56,560 --> 00:32:59,200 Speaker 1: So um, if anyone else would like to send us 514 00:32:59,200 --> 00:33:02,240 Speaker 1: an email or at history podcast at iHeart radio dot com. 515 00:33:02,280 --> 00:33:05,480 Speaker 1: We're all over social media at missed in History, so 516 00:33:05,640 --> 00:33:08,360 Speaker 1: you'll find our Facebook, Twitter, pintereston Instagram, and you can 517 00:33:08,440 --> 00:33:11,960 Speaker 1: subscribe to our show on I heart radio app or 518 00:33:12,000 --> 00:33:20,160 Speaker 1: wherever you like to get your podcasts. Stuff you Missed 519 00:33:20,160 --> 00:33:22,640 Speaker 1: in History Class is a production of I heart Radio. 520 00:33:22,960 --> 00:33:25,800 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the iHeart 521 00:33:25,880 --> 00:33:28,959 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 522 00:33:29,000 --> 00:33:29,680 Speaker 1: favorite shows.