This report on the U.S. tour by the Springboks national South African rugby team says opposition to the tour succeeded in cancelling scheduled matches in three major cities: New York, Chicago, and Rochester. At the only public game, in Albany, several thousand protesters outnumbered spectators ten-to-one. The Springboks were originally scheduled to play three games, in Chicago, New York, and Albany; the Midwest game was eventually held in Racine, Wisconsin. Consistent with its policy of "constructive engagement," the Reagan Administration approved the visas for the Springboks on July 13, despite protests. The report mentions the massive protests in New Zealand against the Springboks tour of...
This report on the U.S. tour by the Springboks national South African rugby team says opposition to the tour succeeded in cancelling scheduled matches in three major cities: New York, Chicago, and Rochester. At the only public game, in Albany, several thousand protesters outnumbered spectators ten-to-one. The Springboks were originally scheduled to play three games, in Chicago, New York, and Albany; the Midwest game was eventually held in Racine, Wisconsin. Consistent with its policy of "constructive engagement," the Reagan Administration approved the visas for the Springboks on July 13, despite protests. The report mentions the massive protests in New Zealand against the Springboks tour of that country. The report says the American Committee on Africa (ACOA) played a major role in organizing opposition. ACOA, ACOA board member Richard Lapchick of the American Coordinating Committee for Equality in Sport and Society (ACCESS), and other groups formed the ad hoc Stop the Apartheid Rugby Tour (SART) coalition, which was chaired by ACOA president, William Booth. ACOA project associate William Robinson also put major energy into organizing. The report says documents released to SART that appeared in the Washington Post showed that the Eastern Rugby Union (ERU) had received $25,000 from South African industrialist Louis Luyt, five times their 1980 budget. The report says ERU president Tom Selfridge also received a $50,000 gift from the racist South African Rugby Board.
