The Soweto uprising was a series of demonstrations and protests led by black school children in South Africa during apartheid that began on the morning of 16 June 1976.
Hector Pieterson being carried by Mbuyisa Makhubo after being shot by the South African police. His sister, Antoinette Sithole, runs beside them. Pieterson was rushed to a local clinic where he was declared dead on arrival. This photo by Sam Nzima became an icon of the Soweto uprising.
Apartheid was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was characterised by an authoritarian political culture based on baasskap, which ensured that South Africa was dominated politically, socially, and economically by the nation's minority white population. In this minoritarian system, there was social stratification, where white citizens had the highest status, followed by Indians and Coloureds, then Black Africans. The economic legacy and social effects of apartheid continue to the present day, particularly inequality.
"Reserved for the sole use of members of the white race group" sign in English, Afrikaans, and Zulu at a beach in Durban, 1989
D. F. Malan, the first apartheid-era prime minister (1948–1954)
Hendrik Verwoerd, minister of native affairs (1950–1958) and prime minister (1958–1966), earned the nickname 'Architect of Apartheid' from his large role in creating legislation.
Cape Coloured children in Bonteheuwel