Statement On George Floyd And Systemic Racism

We at Migration Matters Festival, have been deeply saddened and angered by the deaths of innocent black people at the hands of those assigned to protect and serve all of us. This past week, we have seen a horror that has been present throughout history and it has shaken all of us. It is with immense sorrow and pain that we find ourselves witnessing the  murder of black people and the subsequent attacks on protestors through police violence. 

The oppression of black people in the US, UK and across the western world is sadly nothing new, with many people subjected to daily prejudice and discrimination.  The harm caused by this systematic oppression has led to physical and emotional abuse  and trauma that is carried within black communities.  Not only does this oppression take place so frequently, it has happened for so long that it has become embedded in the fabric of society.

Last Monday, another black person, George Floyd was murdered by a policeman in Minneapolis, this coming almost 65 years after the murder of Emmett Till in Mississippi. Ahmaud Arbery was killed in February this year, while Breonna Taylor was shot in her own home by police in Kentucky in March.

In very similar ways across Europe and in the United Kingdom, we witnessed Sean Rigg’s death while in police custody, in a case that has yet to be accorded justice. In Stretford last month Desmond Ziggy Mombeyarara was shot with a stun gun by police in front of his five year old son.

It was also revealed last week that black and brown people in England are 54% more likely to be fined under coronavirus rules than white people, calling in to question whether these fines were issued fairly.  Quite simply, black people face senseless violence and killing. No progress has been made.

Our commitment to fighting racism and holding systemic racial institutions accountable is not time-bound. We will amplify the voices of our black friends and communities, not while it has our attention, but for as long as it takes until change is achieved and those marginalised voices have been heard.

Our failure to progress on this vital issue is at least partly due to a lack of solidarity across the wider community, and there is a real need for us all to speak out and condemn this violence. We all need to take a stand.

At this crucial time we also stand in solidarity with all those seeking asylum, with all refugees and all migrants, and in particular with those black and brown, for whom their colour presents yet another unjust and discriminatory barrier in their struggle for freedom and justice. 

Our organisation is made up of people of different backgrounds with a collective responsibility to empower and support each other and at this moment in time. So many of our black friends are grieving whilst fighting for justice. We need to be true allies and work to ensure systems of oppression are dismantled and societal change takes place.

There needs to be far more action from the white community to show the government and elite that this cannot continue, because if not, we are complicit in perpetuating a racist system which believes in the superiority of one race and one race only.

Right now we need to shout from the rooftops that black lives matter because there are too many people who think they don’t.

No Justice! No peace!