Today, in drama class, students watched a film called “Sarafina,” which was a depiction of a time in South Africa known as apartheid.
Apartheid was when people in South Africa were segregated and were living under strict rules which were created by the white men in power. The movie plot followed a character named Sarafina who was a high-school student in charge of her younger siblings.
During this time, the students’ schools’ were surrounded by military men with machine guns and this was to scare the kids into submission and order. Teachers at this time were given a set curriculum to teach the children and they weren’t allowed to divert from it. When teachers taught outside of the curriculum, they were imprisoned.
In the movie, a teacher was imprisoned for teaching the students that they have the power to protest against injustices, and this caused the students to protest. This day was a historical moment in South Africa where at least 6 students were killed. The apartheid lasted until 1991 and during that time, many Africans, including children and women of all ages, were imprisoned, tortured and killed.