By: BHS Features Staff
March 19, 2025
Unfortunately, racism is still a common issue, but there are many opportunities and ways to stop racism today. Many organizations fight against racism, and even though progress has been made, the work is not finished.
The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is this Friday, March 21, and this year marks its 60th anniversary.
In 1965, The United Nations acquired the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) as the starting point for ceasing racism globally. The ICERD is one of the first of the UN’s core treaties.
The Elimination of Racial Discrimination is celebrated on the same day that police in Africa killed 69 people in protest of the Apartheid Pass Law in 1960. This law requires any person of color to carry documents in restricted areas that would approve of their presence. The government removed the need for these documents in 1986.
Apartheid was a policy in South Africa that allowed for political and economic discrimination against people of color.
The United Nations General Assembly states that everyone is born free, equal, and is entitled to their rights. The General Assembly has also made it clear that all doctrines, including race superiority, are morally inaccurate and socially unjust. There is no reason to separate human beings based on their differences in race.
In 1979, the General Assembly added various activities to participate in that would, hopefully, fight against racial discrimination. During the activities, the General Assembly created a week of solidarity for those who are or were victims of racism and discrimination. The date was set to be March 21 and would be celebrated annually in every state.
Ever since the fight against racism, the Apartheid system in Africa has been shut down for its racist practices. In many other countries, racist laws and practices have also been abolished.
Unfortunately, racism still occurs, but if people gather together and fight against it, we can move closer to solving this problem.
“Until the killing of black men, black mother’s sons, becomes as important to the rest of the country as the killing of a white mother’s son, we who believe in freedom cannot rest,” Ella Baker (Civil Rights Activist).
{Information for this article sourced from the United Nations and Britannica.}
THE RETURN OF THE EYE 