An Important Correction

I originally posted this in a group folder on 20 June 2008, referencing a presentation I had made the day before:

Over the past twenty-four hours, I have been contemplating my response to Erica's inquiry of the Soweto uprisings. Doing some internet tracking, I feel that this is indeed a much better reflection on 16 June 1976. The important correction is that the students were not marching onward to the government building in Pretoria, but rather, to Orlando Stadium.

Congregating to their final destination, and taking different routes at the site of police blockades, were thousands of students and their supportive teachers, teachers who sided with students that I believe to have demonstrated a consciousness of peace and justice. Along the way, students held up signs declaring the end to Afrikaans, and many students--as well as rising anti-apartheid leader Desmond Tutu--did believe Afrikaans to be the language of the oppressor. Indeed, English was seen as a way to communicate outside of South Africa. It was the rising language of commerce and communication, just as we see it today. So, when I also made mention of Spanish, Japanese, etc., being our "Afrikaans," I intended to drive the fact that any language other than English--the language we are familiar with and use in our daily communications--would most likely be seen as invasive and unwanted, if any other language was forced upon us as Afrikaans was on these students. Such an action may be seen as restrictive in this sense, as opposed to opening greater paths for communication. Moreover, the Afrikaans Medium Decree may also have been seen as a way to bring back more attention to the language that was often used in government but less in these educational settings, i.e. Afrikaans.

Despite the cries for peace and justice, and even the underlying call for the end of apartheid, the events of 16 June 1976 are so difficult to fathom. These students--children, brothers/sisters, best friends, perhaps even only family--faced the horrors of evil, and in my eyes, the epitome of over-the-top repressive behaviour that many adults had to face throughout different points in history: attack dogs, tear gas, guns, death, struggle, neglect, pain, sorrow, suffering. If we imagine this ever happening to our youngest of generations today, it would be hard to do, to contextualise the experience of the Soweto students.

So, in short, the students were marching a peaceful march to a protest rally (let us be further mindful that these students were also organised under student leadership) and not directly to the steps of the government halls. Try to fathom a brutally devastating reaction to one's resistance to a government practice. Is it truly possible to deal with a language issue and language policies when the other side is holding a gun instead of using words?

With this in mind (and especially now that I've definitely thought about this particular area of my research more closely), the Soweto uprisings are but a small sector of what I want to focus on this summer. Even more so, I hope to be able to have the chance to do my own first-hand account research via interviewing when I get to South Africa in the fall.

Sala kahle (Stay well)!

ps/ Alongside general info from Wikipedia, here are some other sites I found worthwhile to read in regard to the Soweto uprisings. The last source is a cool interactive map that shows the different routes leading up to Orlando Stadium. (I don't think it works in Mozilla.)

http://www.ccds.charlotte.nc.us/History/Africa/04/kistner/kistner.htm
http://www.sahistory.org.za/pages/governence-projects/june16/extract-soweto-uprising.html#events
http://www.sowetouprisings.com/site/