International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
"No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite." Nelson Mandela.
21 March was proclaimed the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in 1966 by the United Nations General Assembly to commemorate the Sharperville Massacre in South Africa. On that day in 1960, police opened fire at a peaceful demonstration against the Apartheid. Sixty-nine people were killed, one hundred and eighty were injured. Marking the anniversary of this tragic event aims to make the international community redouble its efforts to eliminate all forms of racism, discrimination and xenophobia.
POLIN Museum’s mission is to augument the dialogue, to build mutual understanding and respect and to combat all forms of exclusion. The Museum’s program addresses the issues of stereotypes and discrimination—our educational events include, i.a., anti-discrimination workshops, meetings, debates and artistic activities.
The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination ought to remind us, too, that colour of the skin of people fleeing a war must not affect the way we relate to them. We all remember well the humanitarian crisis on the Polish-Belarussian border. Social organisations, volunteers and people from local communities in the border areas have been helping the migrants there, which is by far not enough in view of the scale of the crisis. We support the voice of the NGOs and the organisations which form Grupa Granica demanding that the Polish State addresses the humanitarian crisis in a responsible way and stops the illegal push-backs.
Read more about various manifestations of discrimination on wmuzeach.pl portal:
