The theme for Race Relations Day 2017 is "That’s Us: What do we stand for? What do we stand against?".
In New Zealand we are lucky to be able to enjoy and celebrate our diversity, but this is not so in many other parts of the world. In 1966 the date of March 21 was proclaimed by the General Assembly of the United Nations to be The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and the reason this date was chosen is because this was the date of the Sharpeville massacre.
Sharpeville is in South Africa, and on 21 March 1960 police opened fire on a crowd of about 20,000 people who were protesting against the apartheid "pass laws". Some 69 people were killed, including children, while around 180 were injured. Apartheid in the Rainbow Nation has since been dismantled, but the fight against racial prejudice and discrimination continues around the world.
Race Relations Day reading
- Learn more about Tangata Whenua
- Try one of these books on race relations
- Browse National Geographic
- View the Opposing Viewpoints in Context database (library card number and PIN required)
- Listen to music from many different cultures
- Find Ethnic groups in Christchurch in CINCH, our community information database.
- Try a book in another language or learn a new language online
- Learn more about the Sharpeville massacre in the Salem Press Encyclopedia (library card number and PIN required)
