Countries in which protests, started in the US and turned into violence and looting, flared as well experience similar problems associated with racism, the analyst of the Russian news agency Vestnik Kavkaza Ekaterina Vinnik said in the National Question program on Vesti FM.
National Question is a weekly program on Vesti.FM, during which various aspects of national relations in Russia and the CIS countries are discussed. Today's program was dedicated to the development of the situation with mass protests after the death of African American George Floyd in the US and outbreaks of similar actions in Europe.
Ekaterina Vinnik recalled that systemic racism in the practice of social and political institutions in the United States is an extremely negative and widespread phenomenon, the fight against which, in fact, has been going on for centuries.
"The protests in connection with the death of black representatives of American society are a familiar part of US history, but the latest wave of popular discontent over the murder of George Floyd reached an unprecedented scale and swept not only the United States but the whole world," she said.
“People on all continents rallied against police injustice, as well as any manifestations of racism in general. Last Sunday, thousands of people in London gathered on Trafalgar Square, chanting:“ Without justice, there is no peace! ”. Copenhagen citizens protested in front of the American Embassy. Berlin also did not stand aside and joined the protesters chanting “Silence is a crime.” In Paris, a rally of thousands of people took place organized by the sister of Adam Traore, who died after being restrained and apprehended by police in 2016,” the analyst said.
In addition, she added, hundreds of people in Japan rallied near the Shibuya police station after a video went viral with two officers used force to interrogate a 33-year-old man of Kurdish descent right on the street.
"Even the people of Australia, on social networks, emphasized the injustice of the authorities towards the indigenous population of the continent held in custody. Ireland, Italy, Belgium, Poland, the Netherlands, Israel, Sudan, Canada, South Africa, Brazil, New Zealand are among the countries where protests were held against the oppression of socially vulnerable groups,” the expert said.
“What unites all the countries that joined the Black Lives Matters movement and so actively defended both the black population and other national minorities? The answer is obvious - their own unresolved problems. According to Yassine Boubout, Brussels-based activist from Morocco, the United States recognizes the existing problem of racism, segregation, remembers the history of slavery, and at least tries to enact laws against social discrimination of black people, while in Europe, speaking about race and racism in most cases remains taboo, despite the long history of colonialism. This was probably why it was easier for Europeans to condemn American problems than to pay special attention to their own. The same applies to Canada, despite its policy of multiculturalism, as well as almost mono-ethnic Japan, not to mention the problems of Israel,” Ekaterina Vinnik said.
"The speed with which protests broke out around the world should lead the authorities in the respective states to the idea of the need to listen to all their citizens, and not just the majority," the analyst of the Vestnik Kavkaza concluded.
