Today I want to talk about the event of the day. Today, South Africa is celebrating 50 years Human Rights. South Africa went through a very hard time and struggled to the end of apartheid after one of the biggest riots of black people that Africa ever saw. It is the 50th anniversary of the end to the ordeal in their country, run by colonial ruler ship. Run by white people managed in disrespect, ruled in disgrace for black men. Discrimination was part of everyday business. And then the first step to equality, that brought death for 69 people in the Sharpeville Massacre and hundreds of injured. These people did not revolt brutally, they did not scream and they did not thrown stones. They were shot from behind in the back, while they were protesting peacefully, while raising their voices for their rights for Human Rights. They burned their apartheid pass-books and offered their arrest.
“Dompas”, the pass-book, which each black South African, had to carry, were not only an identification document, it was a sign of discrimination, a sign of suppression, a sign of racism as well as it was their only way to life to get work or leave the country. They burned them instead of using them and leaving the country, they burned them instead of keeping quiet. They burned them urging for rights, respect and equality. They rather died than continue living like that, as the riots really started after these 69 people were shot.
The events on March 21st precipitated a crackdown on the liberation movements and individuals by the apartheid state led at the time by the National Party’s Hendrik Verwoerd. As Prime Minister, Mr. Verwoerd had introduced numerous laws to establish the raced-based discriminatory system known as apartheid – earning him the title, architect of apartheid. The government felt an earthquake that increased their violence and brutality.
The beginning of a new era was sealed with blood of those that wanted peace. The news spread like a bush fire. Each and every country reported about it. This massacre led to what should have happened years before. This massacre was the sign that the rest of the globe needed to get active, to increase the pressure on the leadership in South Africa. It was the entrance to 1990, when Nelson Mandela was finally set free.
In 1994, Mr. Mandela’s newly elected government designated March 21st as Human Rights Day, a national holiday in South Africa.
In 1996 on the 10th of December, Nelson Mandela signed the South African constitution including the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Human Rights in Sharpeville as a symbol of equality for the nation.
These are the facts about the 21st of March in South Africa. Now let me partially get back to my yesterdays issue, “Fear is no excuse”. Oh we are so proud of our developments, we are so proud of our nations, we are so proud of our life standard- let me tell you WE HAVE NONE!!! We developed backwards, we are either ashamed of our nation or our nation is ashamed of us and our life standard is morally and ethically beneath the ground. We buried all three of them; the only thing constantly increasing is our egos at the expense of our pride and dignity.
People are claiming that the Catholic Church, the Muslim extremists and the Jews are acting wrong. Who are they? They are us! It is us corrupting the organisations. We are the ones, these beliefs were created for and we are the ones bringing them down. We shut-up when we need to talk and we blub when nobody needs noise. We are so good in teaching others but we are too scared of ourselves when it comes to actions that need to be taken. We are fascinated but we don’t adjust. We are amazed by civil courage but we criticise it as reckless and if ever we would be in the situation of being able to help, we didn’t hear the scream for help. What life standard is this, what development do we claim, what nation are we worth living in. We are too lazy to think, we take what we are told for granted. Because we like sitting and not thinking. We take it for granted because we would have to do something about it as soon as we would start bothering our brains with it. And we take things for granted because others can do the dirty job of thinking and if we get the wrong information it was not our fault.
This is not what we are here for. If there is only one good reason to be on this planet, then it is to love and there is no stronger force than that. This is just one of the examples that I tried to raise, Thailand is another one and so is almost each and every article I wrote.
Find your pride and dignity if you have an idea where you might have lost it. Not searching will not ease or shorten your path; it will just seem like it until your time has come. Then it will be too late and finding it with sore and weak eyes will take you back the entire way you came from. Think about it.
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