The catalyst

Robert B
A2

The Sharpeville Massacre was a horrendous event that took place in Sharpeville, South Africa, March twenty-first, 1960, in which South African police gunned-down sixty-nine native South Africans (eight being women and ten being children). A crowd of around five thousand to seven thousand attended to protest the current apartheid laws in South Africa. There are mixed claims of why the police fired; some claim the natives were instigating violence while others claim the natives were peacefully protesting. There is no evidence to suggest the natives had any weapon other than rocks. It is highly agreed that the Sharpeville massacre brought rapid change. Just nine days after the massacre, the government declared a state of emergency, detaining more than 18,000 people, including prominent anti-apartheid activists who were known as members of the Congress Alliance. In addition, the U.N. condemned South Africa for the actions of the police. Most importantly, the massacre began a new age of armed native resistance and protest. A new approach to apartheid was developed. In my opinion, it is atrocious that such an event occurred. Police claimed they fired because the mob was becoming violent, but we can tell there was a deeper reason than that. This event occurred because of racism. To base anything on race is an invalid argument. Race can never determine the worth or potential of a person. No race can be completely stereotyped as being something or doing anything. However, there is validity in saying that a race is more likely to act a certain way or behave in a specific manner. According to NCAAP, African Americans are incarcerated at nearly six times the rate of whites. Together, African American and Hispanics comprised 58% of all prisoners in 2008, even though African Americans and Hispanics make up approximately one quarter of the US population. Is there a legitimate argument to be had here? There are factual statistics that show certain minorities run a higher chance of being incarcerated. Can we therefore say that, because of a person's race, they are more likely to behave a specific way? Technically, yes. There is hard evidence that suggest certain races are more likely to be a certain way. However, even if 99% of a race acts is proven to act a certain way that does not correspond to every single person being that way. All it takes is one person to break a trend. It is valid to say certain races have a higher probability of specific characteristics, but due to the large population of those people, it is impossible to generalize every single one of them. Therefore, unless 100% of that certain race or ethnic group fulfills a certain stereotype, any generalizations are invalid. There is still a gray area in the Sharpeville massacre: did the police have the right to shoot? There is proof that South Africans had began throwing rocks and menacing police barricades. However, this was in response to the police's reinforcements, including more officers, armored cars, and sabre jets to try and intimidate the crowd. From a native's point of view, it seemed that the police were asking for a fight. When natives started throwing rocks, I think police did not have the right to shoot. A angry mob throwing rocks is extremely dangerous no doubt, but randomly firing into a crowd was not the best solution. In that scenario, police should have thrown tear gas (which they did) and arrested those who were violently protesting. They should have also shot bullets into the sky to gather the natives attention. Most natives were shot in the back fleeing. If you want to learn more about the Sharpeville massacre, I suggest watching a variety of videos on YouTube and reading multiple articles on the event. The Sharpeville Massacre is still a debated topic based on it's validity of police firing. However, after much research, it is more agreed upon that the police acted out of fear and impulse.

Bibliography

Cunningham, John M. "Sharpeville Massacre (South African History)." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, 16 Sept. 2013. Web. 17 Dec. 2013.

Boddy-Evans, Alistair. "Sharpeville Massacre." About.com African History. About.com, 5 Jan. 2012. Web. 18 Dec. 2013.