A crowd gathered outside the Sharpeville Police Station on 21 March 1960.They came armed not with weapons, but with conviction – not to divide society, but to assert their dignity in it” General Assembly President Annalena Baerbock recalled in her opening remarks.
But the annual commemoration is more than an infamous event, he said, because racism clearly persists in every corner of the world.
horrible and harmful
“Sometimes it is obvious and obscene – an obscenity thrown at another, or graffiti scrawled on a wall. Sometimes it is quiet and discreet – masked in bureaucracy and hidden within the general”Ms Baerbock said, speaking in the General Assembly Hall.
“But whether loudly or quietly, it is frightening, it is harmful, and its consequences extend far beyond individuals.”
As UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in his remarks, racism hurts everyone.
Governments stumble on policies
“it The harmful consequences of slavery, colonialism and oppression continue,” He Said.
Racism “is also the cause of many of the problems we face today”, including economic, social and political inequalities as well as discriminatory policies and practices and conflicts.
Furthermore, “many solutions to combat it are weakening as some governments dismantle anti-racism policies and practices and leaders try to rewrite history.”
The UN chief was particularly troubled by how racism and xenophobia were being mainstreamed on digital platforms and in political discourse.
“What might start as dog whistles – coded messages meant to encourage other radicals – can quickly turn into full-blown hate speech,” he said.
“We know where this path leads: to injustice, violence, and worse”
The solution is solidarity, he said, calling on governments, institutions, businesses and communities to work together to protect the dignity, justice, equality and rights of every person.
keep moving forward
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk Thrown light on How history has shown that movements for greater equality cannot be stopped.
He also gave the example of Sharpeville ruby bridgeThe African American girl who desecrated schools in the United States; worker Ana Paula Gomes de Oliveira who are demanding justice for African-Brazilian mothers who have lost their children to police violence, and American civil rights champion Reverend jesse jackson Who died last month.
“These and countless other acts of resistance have changed the face of our world. Today, We expect nothing less than an all-out effort to protect and advance this progress,” He said.
Justice, Human Rights and Courage
Mr Turki stressed the critical need for political will, including to fight discrimination through strongly enforced laws and to strengthen accountability for all forms of racial discrimination and hatred.
He said, “Being anti-racist doesn’t mean standing with one group against another. It means standing in favor of human rights and justice for all.”
American law professor Justin Hansford – founding member of United Nations Permanent Forum on Peoples of African Descent – described how he has marched in the streets for racial justice with “tear gas in the air, tanks on the street, names like Trayvon Martin, Mike Brown and George Floyd on my lips.”
He described the 69 people killed in the Sharpeville massacre as martyrs for democracy and racial justice, whose sacrifice still resonates today.
He said, “Their courage showed that the world will continue to watch until racial justice becomes not a promise deferred but a status achieved.”
