International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination 2023: Date, History, Facts

International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is commemorated annually on March 21 in remembrance of the 69 peaceful demonstrators in Sharpeville, South Africa, who were gunned down on this date in 1960 while protesting against apartheid laws. In 1966, in response to the senseless tragedy, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed March 21 International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and urged the global community to work together to end all forms of racial discrimination. The motif of 2021, “Youth standing up against racism,” accompanied by the hashtag #FightRacism, urged individuals to oppose racial prejudice, discrimination, and intolerance and to embrace equality.

The background of International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

The origins of racism can be traced back to the nation’s past. Slavery, bigotry, and race are interconnected. Despite the fact that the term race dates back to the early 1500s when it was used to identify individuals, it is now frequently associated with concepts formatted by groups that grant or deny certain privileges. In America and many other nations, the concept of race has been used to oppress, and this is still the case today, although it was once used to justify forced labor. Slavery dates back several centuries. Before the sixteenth century, slavery was permissible for a variety of reasons.

Between the years 1550 and 1600, the term “white” primarily referred to the exclusive privileges of the English aristocracy. In 1613, the English adopted the term “white” while posing against the East Indians for colonial purposes, despite whiteness being an exclusive privilege of the Anglo-Saxon heritage. The origins of African American slavery were firmly established in the early 1600s, when the first Africans were captured and brought to the American colonies as slave laborers. By this time, the enslavement status no longer inherently applied to the African lineage as a permanent condition. In 1662, Virginia enacted the law of hereditary slavery, transferring the legal status of children to that of their mothers, thereby making them slaves automatically. By the 19th century, racism had spread throughout the world, labeling African Americans as inferior beings and whites as more intelligent and capable.

The noble eugenics movement of the 1990s reflects racism’s origins; “eugenics” translates to “well-born” and discourages reproduction by people with defects or undesirable characteristics. This belief in white supremacy was bolstered by “Aryanism,” an ideology that deemed Aryans who spoke archaic Indo-European languages to be superior. Currently, the ideology of racial superiority persists.

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5 INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR THE ELIMINATION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION

In 1804, following its formal declaration of independence from France, Haiti abolishes slavery.

Slavery became a crime in 2007, but it is still prevalent in the country to this day.

The sixth leading cause of death for black males in the United States is police brutality.

With roughly 26 million participants, the #BlackLivesMatter movement shook the globe.

Churches are culpable of discriminating against individuals with dark skin tones and employing hair-comb tests.

INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR THE ELIMINATION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION DATES

Year	Date	Day
2023	March 21	Tuesday
2024	March 21	Thursday
2025	March 21	Friday
2026	March 21	Saturday
2027	March 21	Sunday