From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

International Day of Observance

The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is observed annually on 21 March since declared by the United Nations in 1966. In South Africa, the country in which the event took place that gave rise to the observance, the Sharpeville Massacre, the day is commemorated as Human Rights Day, and is a public holiday.

Background

On 21 March 1960, police opened fire at a peaceful demonstration in Sharpeville, South Africa, against the pass laws. In the event known as the Sharpeville massacre, 69 people were killed and 180 injured.

Proclaiming the day in 1966, the United Nations General Assembly called on the international community to redouble its efforts to eliminate all forms of racial discrimination.

Human Rights Day in South Africa

In South Africa, the day has been commemorated on 21 March each year as a public holiday called Human Rights Day since 1994, when Nelson Mandela was elected president of a new democratic South Africa. The day is regarded as a day of mourning by some, commemorating the lives of those who died to fight for democracy and equal human rights for all in South Africa during apartheid, an institutionally racist system built upon racial discrimination.

On this day, the government asks that "South Africans... reflect on their rights, to protect their rights and the rights of all people from violation, irrespective of race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, whether they are foreign national or not".

Themes

Every year, the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is under one specific theme:

2010: Disqualify Racism
2014: The Role of Leaders in Combatting Racism and Racial Discrimination
2015: Learning from tragedies to combat racial discrimination today
2017: Racial profiling and incitement to hatred, including in the context of migration
2018: Promoting tolerance, inclusion, unity and respect for diversity in the context of combating racial discrimination
2019: Mitigating and countering rising nationalist populism and extreme supremacist ideologies
2020: Recognition, justice and development: The midterm review of the International Decade for People of African Descent
2022: Voices for action against racism
2023: 75th anniversary of UDHR - an impetus to combat racism
2024: Humanity, non racism
2025: 60th anniversary of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination

Footnotes

References

Yussuf, Ahmed. (21 March 2023). "From a massacre in apartheid South Africa to 'feel good' multiculturalism: The dark history of Harmony Day".
"International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination". [[United Nations]].
(1 January 1995). "Public Holidays Act 36 of 1994".
"Human Rights Day".

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

civil-awareness-days united-nations-days international-opposition-to-apartheid-in-south-africa march-observances

Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report