By Eunice Masunungure 

ON June 16 1976, over 10 000 unarmed students from the township of Soweto gathered at their schools to participate in a student-organised protest, contesting the use of Afrikaans in their schools.

The children carried placards denouncing use of Afrikaans as the medium of instruction.

The students sang freedom songs. 

As they marched towards Orlando High School, they were met by heavily armed police who fired teargas and later live ammunition directly into the crowd. 

A count of about 200 students died that day and the days to come while a further 300 others were injured.

The senseless killing is captured in the picture of dying Hector Pieterson being carried by another student while his sister ran beside them.

Pieterson, who died during the protest, has become an iconic image of the struggle against brutality and forms of racism in present day. 

The massacre is remembered today as ‘Day of the African Child’.

Sadly, racism continues to rear its ugly head.

In an example closer home, school authorities at Hellenic Academy in Harare were recently accused of racist tendencies.

Four white students at the school allegedly attacked a male black pupil  and broke his arm last month, resulting in the child arming himself with a knife to defend  himself. 

The student faced expulsion for the incident, while his assailants went scot-free. 

Equitable society continues to be threatened by instances of senseless racial abuses.

Present South Africa feels like two different countries chaffing against each other; one of predominantly white rich and the other of the black poor.

Post-apartheid South Africa has been struggling to bridge the divide created by the apartheid system.

Most blacks stay in shanty towns.

Social media footages of blacks being attacked by white groups are a common thing in SA.  

A 2019 UCT report found that racism exists at University of Cape Town and that the university management systems contribute to the problem.

University black staff are under pressure to bridge racial gaps for students while suffering the same.

June 16, therefore, brings to the fore stories of George Floyd’s senseless death on May 25 2020; Ahmaud Arbery on February 23 2020; and Breonna Taylor on March 13 2020.

Injustices and inequalities that black and other minority populations around the world experience on a daily basis are real and a cause for concern.

Historical examples of white brutality abound, especially here in Zimbabwe during the Rhodesian era. 

On August 9 1976, a counter-insurgency unit of the Rhodesian forces, with the help of the South African Government, killed over 2 000 blacks at Nyadzonia Camp in Mozambique.

On November 23 1977, Rhodesians massacred over 3 000 innocent people and wounded another 5 000 at Chimoio, Mozambique.

The wickedness of racism is also found in the Namibian genocide which occurred between 1904 and 1907.

The German soldiers slaughtered more than 10 000 Herero and another 10 000 Namaqua people of Namibia.

German soldiers surrounded Herero villages, shooting and hanging men and women indiscriminately.

The Germans followed up those who escaped to the desserts where some died from lack of food and water.

It is not easy to ignore the torturing of 5 228 African fighters by colonial forces during the Mau Mau uprising against white settlers in Kenya. According to the Kenyan Human Rights Commission, 90 000 Kenyans were executed, tortured and maimed. 

Furthermore, 160 000 were detained in appalling conditions. These figures are even argued to be an underrepresentation.

International Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) speaks of racial discrimination as “…any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin. [It has] the effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic or social, cultural or any other field of public life.”

Unfortunately, the scourge of fellowman hatred continues unabated.

It must be dealt with unequivocally. 

The era of superior races and all conquering powers is long gone.