An Embassy Sit-in Launches the Free South Africa Movement

Apartheid organized racial domination through law. South Africans were assigned racial categories, separated in where they could live and which facilities they could use, and subjected to forced removals. The Black majority was denied equal political power. [1] [2]

On the day before Thanksgiving in 1984, Randall Robinson, Mary Frances Berry, and Walter Fauntroy refused to leave South Africa’s embassy after a meeting with its ambassador. Eleanor Holmes Norton, who had accompanied them, went outside to speak to reporters. The three remaining visitors were arrested. [2] [3]

The action was planned to attract attention during a quiet holiday news period. In an interview weeks later, Fauntroy explained that the group wanted South Africa to release detained activists and political prisoners, negotiate a new constitution with their leaders, and dismantle apartheid. They also demanded a change in American policy toward Pretoria. [2]

Fauntroy and Robinson drew on networks built through the American civil rights movement, including church, labor, and community organizations. Reagan’s reelection had reinforced their decision to use public protest alongside lobbying. The campaign pressed the U.S. government to abandon its policy of constructive engagement with the apartheid government. [2]

Under the Free South Africa Movement’s banner, supporters returned to the embassy for repeated demonstrations, and protests spread across the country. [3] [4]

Related Diplomats

1. Randall Robinson [3]
2. Mary Frances Berry [3]
3. Walter Edward Fauntroy [2]
4. Bernardus Gerhardus “Brand” Fourie [2]

Related Reading

• South Africa and the United States