EPISODE · Jun 16, 2026 · 15 MIN
Soweto 1976
from Radio Diaries · host Radio Diaries & Radiotopia
Fifty years ago, a group of schoolchildren in South Africa changed history.For decades, the whites-only government of South Africa had brutally enforced a policy of racial segregation known as apartheid—and had crushed any opposition just as ruthlessly. By the 1970s, an entire generation of anti-apartheid fighters had been silenced. May were imprisoned or killed.But on June 16, 1976, students in Soweto township outside Johannesburg decided to hold a protest against a government policy mandating that all classes be taught in Afrikaans, the language of South Africa's rulers.This is their story. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
What this episode covers
Fifty years ago, a group of schoolchildren in South Africa changed history. For decades, the whites-only government of South Africa had brutally enforced a policy of racial segregation known as apartheid—and had crushed any opposition just as ruthlessly. By the 1970s, an entire generation of anti-apartheid fighters had been silenced. May were imprisoned or killed. But on June 16, 1976, students in Soweto township outside Johannesburg decided to hold a protest against a government policy mandating that all classes be taught in Afrikaans, the language of South Africa's rulers. This is their story.
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Soweto 1976
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