There
were many examples of black resistance to apartheid. One
of the most important was the Soweto riots. Soweto was
a collection of townships outside of Johannesburg, where
the blacks worked. On June 16, 1976, 15,000 children marched
in protest of the new educational policy that required
black students to learn Afrikaans alongside English, the
official language. They refused to disperse and the police
fired into the crowd, killing and wounding several students.
After
this incident, riots spread across Soweto and other cities,
and were put down through often brutal tactics.
Opposition
continued. The government connected all black resistance
with communism, which gave them an excuse to crack down.
