1968 - UN Condemns Apartheid

On May 20, 1968, the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 2396, formally condemning South Africa’s apartheid regime and calling on all nations to cut off military and economic ties. The resolution marked a significant shift in global accountability, as it pressured international actors to confront complicity in racial oppression. African and Caribbean nations played a key role in pushing this policy forward, using their newly acquired independence and UN voting power. The resolution laid the groundwork for subsequent arms embargoes and diplomatic isolation of the apartheid regime. May 20 is a pivotal date showing how global Black solidarity and diplomacy were instrumental in dismantling white supremacist systems. It affirms that international legal frameworks, when backed by collective action, can challenge racial injustice. The resolution is a landmark in the transnational fight against institutionalized racism, rooted in the African liberation movements of the 1960s.