Soweto Uprising: Students March Against Apartheid
South African police opened fire on a crowd of approximately 10,000-20,000 Black students marching through Soweto on June 16, 1976, killing 13-year-old Hector Pieterson among the first victims. The students were protesting a government directive requiring instruction in Afrikaans, the language of the white Afrikaner ruling class, in their schools. The photograph of Pieterson's limp body being carried by a fellow student, with his sister running alongside screaming, became the most powerful image of the anti-apartheid struggle. The uprising spread to other townships and continued for months, killing an estimated 176-700 people. The Soweto Uprising transformed the anti-apartheid movement from an exiled resistance into a domestic mass movement and turned international opinion decisively against the regime.
June 16, 1976
50 years ago
Key Figures & Places
South Africa
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Soweto uprising
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Soweto
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Soweto uprising
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Soweto
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South Africa
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Hector Pieterson
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African Union
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12 mars
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Zambia
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14 de abril
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Angola
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12 août
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Township (Südliches Afrika)
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Afrikaans
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Tsietsi Mashinini
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Histoire de l'Afrique du Sud
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Black people
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Apartheid
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