Catalogue Number
NMLH.2025.26.7
Object Name
poster
Title
'Support economic sanctions against South Africa. Sanctions won't hurt Black workers more than apartheid. International Confederation of Free Trade Unions'
Place
South Africa, UK
People
Anti-Apartheid Movement (AAM), International Confederation of Free Trade Unions
Events
South African apartheid regime 1948-1994
Description
A white poster with black text which reads: 'Support economic sanctions against South Africa. Sanctions won't hurt Black workers more than apartheid. International Confederation of Free Trade Unions'. The central image is a colour painting of a black man's head and shoulders. His face is contorted in pain, his forehead is bandaged and his mouth is covered in a white gag. The gag is ripping as he cries out in pain.
This poster was designed by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions to urge shoppers not to buy goods that were produced in South Africa during the apartheid regime. Apartheid is a system of institutionalised racial segregation that ensured that the country was dominated politically, socially and economically by the minority white population. Sanctions are an economic policy designed to be enacted between countries, typically to punish a country for violating international law, and apply pressure to make them change. When sanctions are introduced financial support, trade agreements, and commerce may be suspended between the sanctioner and the sanctionee. One of the arguments made against sanctions on South Africa was that given the poverty Black South Africans experienced, Black South Africans would suffer more under sanctions than they did under apartheid. The poster highlights that Black South Africans were already suffering state-sanctioned violence, torture and execution while fighting for their rights. The gag may also be a reference to this anti-sanctions argument speaking over the desires of Black South Africans themselves.
The anti-apartheid movement began as the Boycott Movement in 1959, when Black South Africans asked British people not to buy South African goods. The boycott gained widespread support from students, trade unions, and the Labour, Liberal and Communist parties. Following the 1960 Sharpsville massacre when 69 unarmed anti-apartheid protestors were shot dead by South African police, the movement expanded beyond economic boycotts. The main umbrella organisation for anti-apartheid organising was renamed the 'Anti-Apartheid Movement' (AAM) and led protests and vigils, including a 72-hour vigil outside the Commonwealth Secretariat in 1961 that led to South Africa being expelled from the Commonwealth of former British colonies. The AAM was also instrumental in revealing racism in South African sports, which resulted in the suspension and eventual expulsion of South Africa from the Olympics. They continued to urge for boycotts, aiming to lead to economic sanctions, but this aim was never realised. The AAM grew into the biggest British pressure group on an international issue. The AAM operated until 1994, when South Africa held their first democratic elections.
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