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Protesters gather at Fowlds Park
John MercerSeptember 12, 1981
Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira
Auckland, New Zealand
Black and white photograph of a tightly packed crowd of anti-Springbok tour protesters. One protester is holding a large banner reading "Biko" featuring a portrait of anti-apartheid activist, Steve Biko.
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Details
- Title: Protesters gather at Fowlds Park
- Creator: John Mercer
- Creator Lifespan: b. 1949
- Creator Nationality: New Zealander
- Creator Birth Place: New Plymouth, New Zealand
- Date Created: September 12, 1981
- Location: Mount Albert (Auckland, N.Z.)
- Physical Dimensions: 35 mm frame
- Subject Keywords: Protest movements., Springboks (Rugby team), Rugby football--Political aspects--New Zealand, Mount Albert (Auckland, N.Z.), Protest movements--New Zealand--Auckland
- Type: Negative
- Rights: All rights reserved
- External Link: Auckland Museum: Collections Online
- Support: Polyester
- Wikipedia: Auckland Museum on Wikipedia
- Process: Gelatin silver
- Notes: Note provided by John Mercer June-July 2021:;"These are ordinary people, real people who gathered for a common purpose – to express their disgust for and opposition to welcoming a touring rugby team from a country that systematically separated, mistreated and disenfranchised the majority of their population on the basis of skin colour.;The then Prime Minister embraced this passionate display of opposition from a large and diverse group of protestors as his path to another term of office by making it a law and order issue. That translated to denigrating and stereotyping protestors as ‘rent a crowd (presumably to explain the sheer number of protestors)', unwashed students, unemployed (unemployable) layabouts bent on mixing politics with the pristine sport of rugby, desirous of taking away average NZers enjoyment in watching the game and left wing intelligenzia intent on destroying the Kiwi way of life."
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