The higher morality: Students for a Democratic Society confronts apartheid

Abstract

Five years after the Sharpeville Massacre propelled South Africa and apartheid into international consciousness, Students for a Democratic Society, founded in 1960 at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, organized a significant protest in New York City to both commemorate the anniversary of Sharpeville and, more pressing, to raise awareness of the connections between United States corporations—specifically Chase Manhattan Bank—and apartheid. The protest at Chase Manhattan's headquarters in March 1965 was the culminating event in the “Action Against Apartheid Week” activities taking place in the New York City area. This article examines SDS's protest against Chase Manhattan as a critical precursor to the divestment movements that developed across US college and university campuses during the 1970s and 1980s, exploring the influence of students and youth activists on both US foreign policy and the international anti-apartheid struggle.