Richard S. Gilbert
Rochester, New York, United States
June 12, 1986
1 page
To the Editor: As we recognize the 10th anniversary of the Soweto uprising in South Africa we find instead “a foolish inconsistency” in the foreign policy of the Reagan Administration. In the face of new and more oppressive practices under the apartheid system, the Reagan Administration continues to maintain that its policy of “constructive engagement” will work, contrary to all the evidence. In the last 19 months 1400 people have been killed and 36,000 arrested (most of them black, 60% of them under the age of 18). Police continue to manhandle peaceful protesters, in many instances as they attend funerals for this killed at government hands. Yet the government...
To the Editor: As we recognize the 10th anniversary of the Soweto uprising in South Africa we find instead “a foolish inconsistency” in the foreign policy of the Reagan Administration. In the face of new and more oppressive practices under the apartheid system, the Reagan Administration continues to maintain that its policy of “constructive engagement” will work, contrary to all the evidence. In the last 19 months 1400 people have been killed and 36,000 arrested (most of them black, 60% of them under the age of 18). Police continue to manhandle peaceful protesters, in many instances as they attend funerals for this killed at government hands. Yet the government refuses to employ economic sanctions except for a few face-saving measures, full of loopholes, taken to head off stronger congressional action. Fortunately, we do not have to depend upon our administration to help the black people of South Africa. There is divestment legislation pending in our New York State Legislature. The House of Representatives is working on the Anti-Apartheid Act of 1986 which will ban new investment, bank loans and investments in strategic areas of the South African economy which are key in repressing black people.
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Used by permission of Richard S. Gilbert
Rochester anti-apartheid movement (Richard S. Gilbert collection)
