1986 : TUTU MEETS WITH BOTHA:
Bishop Desmond Tutu, winner of the 1984 Nobel Prize for Peace, meets
with South African President P.W. Botha to discuss the nationwide
state of emergency declared by Botha in response to the anti-apartheid
protests. "This is not likely to help restore law and order and peace
and calm," Tutu said of the government crackdown after the meeting.
"If we do have any calm, it will be very brittle, it will be
superficial, it will be sullen, and at the slightest chance, it will
be broken again."
In 1948, South Africa's white minority government institutionalized
its policy of racial segregation and white supremacy known as
apartheid--Afrikaans for "apartness." Eighty percent of the country's
land was set aside for white use, and black Africans entering this
territory required special passes. Blacks, who had no representation
in the government, were subjected to different labor laws and
educational standards than whites and lived in extreme poverty while
white South Africans prospered.
Organized anti-apartheid protests began in the 1950s, and in the 1960s
Nelson Mandela and other anti-apartheid leaders were imprisoned. In
the 1970s, a new phase of protest began, with black trade unions
organizing strikes and Steve Biko, leader of the Black Consciousness
movement, calling on blacks to defend their African culture. After the
Soweto uprising of June 1976, more than 500 black activists, including
Biko, were killed by police.
By the time Pieter W. Botha took power as South African prime minister
in 1978, ongoing domestic turmoil and increasing international
condemnation made it clear that the South African government could not
long sustain the apartheid status quo. Botha's administration
undertook many reforms, including an end to some racial segregation, a
repeal of the "pass laws," and an end to the ban on black trade
unions, but made no fundamental change to South Africa's power
structure. Protests continued, and Botha resorted to strong-arm
tactics, using the military and police to suppress opposition to his
minority government. Thousands of blacks were killed.
Meanwhile, a black Anglican minister named Desmond Tutu, who in 1975
became the first black dean of St. Mary's Cathedral in Johannesburg,
was emerging as an important leader of the anti-apartheid movement. He
advocated nonviolence and pushed for international sanctions against
South Africa. In 1984, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace. The
next year, he was installed as Johannesburg's first black Anglican
bishop.
In 1984, a new constitution took effect that made Botha president of
South Africa but failed to grant blacks representation in his
government. Demonstrations escalated, and on June 12, 1986, Botha
declared martial law as a means of preventing demonstrations planned
to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the 1976 Soweto uprising.
Thousands of black community leaders, clergymen, union organizers, and
anti-apartheid activists were arrested, and heavily armed policemen
and troops patrolled the black ghettoes. On June 13, as a conciliatory
gesture, Botha met with Desmond Tutu in Cape Town, but the meeting
failed to temper Tutu's public criticism of Botha's policies.
In the fall of 1986, the U.S. government and the European Community
authorized economic sanctions against South Africa in an effort to end
apartheid. In September, Desmond Tutu was elected the first black
archbishop of Cape Town, thus becoming the spiritual leader of three
million Anglicans in southern Africa. In his new position, he
continued his outspoken criticism of apartheid and the oppressive
South African government. With the South African economy in decline,
P.W. Botha stepped down as president in 1989 and was succeeded by F.W.
de Klerk, who set about dismantling apartheid. Nelson Mandela was
freed, a new constitution enfranchised blacks, and in 1994 Mandela and
the African National Congress were elected to power in South Africa's
first free elections. Desmond Tutu retired as Anglican archbishop in
1996, though he continues to speak out against human rights abuses and
is active in the fight against HIV and AIDS in Africa.
history.com/tdih.do
323 : B.C. Alexander the Great dies
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=4628
1381 : Peasant army marches into London
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=4629
1967 : Thurgood Marshall appointed to Supreme Court
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=4630
1983 : Pioneer 10 departs solar system
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=4631
#########################################
Bishop Desmond Tutu, winner of the 1984 Nobel Prize for Peace, meets
with South African President P.W. Botha to discuss the nationwide
state of emergency declared by Botha in response to the anti-apartheid
protests. "This is not likely to help restore law and order and peace
and calm," Tutu said of the government crackdown after the meeting.
"If we do have any calm, it will be very brittle, it will be
superficial, it will be sullen, and at the slightest chance, it will
be broken again."
In 1948, South Africa's white minority government institutionalized
its policy of racial segregation and white supremacy known as
apartheid--Afrikaans for "apartness." Eighty percent of the country's
land was set aside for white use, and black Africans entering this
territory required special passes. Blacks, who had no representation
in the government, were subjected to different labor laws and
educational standards than whites and lived in extreme poverty while
white South Africans prospered.
Organized anti-apartheid protests began in the 1950s, and in the 1960s
Nelson Mandela and other anti-apartheid leaders were imprisoned. In
the 1970s, a new phase of protest began, with black trade unions
organizing strikes and Steve Biko, leader of the Black Consciousness
movement, calling on blacks to defend their African culture. After the
Soweto uprising of June 1976, more than 500 black activists, including
Biko, were killed by police.
By the time Pieter W. Botha took power as South African prime minister
in 1978, ongoing domestic turmoil and increasing international
condemnation made it clear that the South African government could not
long sustain the apartheid status quo. Botha's administration
undertook many reforms, including an end to some racial segregation, a
repeal of the "pass laws," and an end to the ban on black trade
unions, but made no fundamental change to South Africa's power
structure. Protests continued, and Botha resorted to strong-arm
tactics, using the military and police to suppress opposition to his
minority government. Thousands of blacks were killed.
Meanwhile, a black Anglican minister named Desmond Tutu, who in 1975
became the first black dean of St. Mary's Cathedral in Johannesburg,
was emerging as an important leader of the anti-apartheid movement. He
advocated nonviolence and pushed for international sanctions against
South Africa. In 1984, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace. The
next year, he was installed as Johannesburg's first black Anglican
bishop.
In 1984, a new constitution took effect that made Botha president of
South Africa but failed to grant blacks representation in his
government. Demonstrations escalated, and on June 12, 1986, Botha
declared martial law as a means of preventing demonstrations planned
to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the 1976 Soweto uprising.
Thousands of black community leaders, clergymen, union organizers, and
anti-apartheid activists were arrested, and heavily armed policemen
and troops patrolled the black ghettoes. On June 13, as a conciliatory
gesture, Botha met with Desmond Tutu in Cape Town, but the meeting
failed to temper Tutu's public criticism of Botha's policies.
In the fall of 1986, the U.S. government and the European Community
authorized economic sanctions against South Africa in an effort to end
apartheid. In September, Desmond Tutu was elected the first black
archbishop of Cape Town, thus becoming the spiritual leader of three
million Anglicans in southern Africa. In his new position, he
continued his outspoken criticism of apartheid and the oppressive
South African government. With the South African economy in decline,
P.W. Botha stepped down as president in 1989 and was succeeded by F.W.
de Klerk, who set about dismantling apartheid. Nelson Mandela was
freed, a new constitution enfranchised blacks, and in 1994 Mandela and
the African National Congress were elected to power in South Africa's
first free elections. Desmond Tutu retired as Anglican archbishop in
1996, though he continues to speak out against human rights abuses and
is active in the fight against HIV and AIDS in Africa.
history.com/tdih.do
323 : B.C. Alexander the Great dies
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=4628
1381 : Peasant army marches into London
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=4629
1967 : Thurgood Marshall appointed to Supreme Court
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=4630
1983 : Pioneer 10 departs solar system
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=4631
#########################################
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