International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

http://www.un.org/depts/dhl/racial/

March 21, 2011

Objective:
A worldwide effort to combat racism and discrimination wherever they exist.

On March 21, 1960, the township of Sharpeville, South Africa was rocked by violence when police opened fire and killed 69 people peacefully demonstrating against apartheid "pass laws". The notorious passbooks were a repressive tool to control the movements of black South Africans.

The United Nations General Assembly subsequently declared the 21st of March to be the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and called on the international community not only to commemorate that tragedy, but also to work together to combat racism and discrimination wherever they exist.

The focus of this year’s observance is on the interface between racism and sport. As South Africa will be the first African country to host the FIFA Football World Cup, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stated that, "It is our collective responsibility to ensure that there will be no room for racist and xenophobic acts, both inside and outside stadiums". More broadly, he added, "we must push for all sports organizations to adopt stringent anti-discrimination policies, as well as frameworks for punishing the perpetrators of racist incidents and justice for the victims".

• discrimination
• racism
• equality
• racist