One of the positives about doing a degree is that you study a wide range of topics. Recently, I have learnt about Antigone, The Island, and protest music in South Africa. And it is the subject of South Africa, I would like to talk about it.
From 1948 onwards, the South African government released a series of laws against non-whites. You had to carry a pass if you were not white (1950), landlords and authorities could demolish peoples homes to remove them from their land (1951), seperate amenities such as toilets, parks, beaches, buses, schools were introduced (1953), marriage between mixed race was illegal (1968), no groups of people in a public place (1979), and in 1965 they introduced a law called the Criminal Procedure Amendment Act. This gave state officials the chance to detain people for 180 days. This means they could be kept in solitary confinement and not receive a trial. This led to many activists being tortured, such as Steve Biko (made famous by the song by Peter Gabriel), who was beaten to death by police in his cell.
As the rest of the world was coming out of segregation (in 1965, the Colour bar in the UK became illegal thanks to the Race Relations Act), South Africa was at its height.
As I learnt about the horror that Apartheid (the name given for this period of history), bought to the people of South Africa, I became more and more astonished at how little of this I knew. Yes, it was before my time, but so were the wars, so was prohibition, so was the suffragettes, yet I learnt about this, I became passionate about learning about them. The discrimination faced by the South African people, seeing them as lesser people, echoed moments in history we all know about. Films have been made, millions of books written, lessons taught in secondary classrooms…I am sure there is media and literature out there concerning Apartheid, but I am guessing the numbers are no where near the amount on the war or segregation.
In 1976, the South African government enforced laws that enforced Afrikaans (not English) as the medium in schools for black children. The pupils protested on 16 June 1979, and police opened fire. At least 176 students died, some think as much as 700, with thousands more being injured. This became known as the Soweto uprising.
If I knew about this in school, children just like me, standing up for what they believed in-to keep English in their schools- I would have been captivated by their bravery, inspired by their courage, and want to know more. So why isn’t it being taught in the classroom?
You might say that because Britain wasn’t involved, but the Queen and Margaret Thatcher argued publicly on how to handle the issue. The photo of Hector Peterson became world famous. Not to mention, the Anti-Apartheid Movement AAM) was a British organisation that directed the international effort against the South African regime.
This is modern history, but it is human history. Much protesting involved music. In fact, music was almost a weapon at this time. Activists sang until the noose was tightened around their neck, calling for others to not give up and carry on the fight. Wouldn’t it be beneficial to teach students about the importance of music? Play the protest songs, embrace world music, not just classical? Show how music can play such a vital role throughout history?
What makes some current events go into textbooks but not others? Shouldn’t school show children how big the world is? How they can learn from history? Show pupils how many people, even children, have had to fight for human rights? Inspire them, teach them, let them learn the modern history of the world? In secondary, the same syllabus is being taught from twenty years ago. There’s so much out there. Maybe we should be a bit more selective. Just a thought.
Geek Girl Eats Cake 