The murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis by a police officer is yet more proof that state-sanctioned racism is alive and well in the US. A police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes, cutting off his air supply and murdering him.
The police officer’s colleagues chose to not intervene and be complicit. George Floyd’s life was taken away from him by the same system that preferences white lives over the lives of black people.
His final moments, captured on video, in which he can be heard saying “I can’t breathe”, are evidence of the continued systemic and institutional racism that the African-American community must live under in the United States.
The rage that has erupted in the aftermath of this brutal murder is both justified and warranted. The reaction of the state to this uprising has been predictable. A militarised and heavily armed police force has been deployed to put down the protestors and return things to the status quo.
Roughly sixty years have passed since the civil rights movement and yet African-Americans continue to be murdered and discriminated against for simply existing.
Both Democrats and Republicans and the institutions they created and uphold are responsible for this.
The Industrial Workers of the World calls for these institutions of racism and oppression to be torn down. In this trying time we offer our solidarity to our American comrades and in doing so echo the call and immediate end to the Irish governments own racist policy of Direct Provision.
Black Lives Matter! - No Justice - No Peace!
This coming Saturday 6th June at 3pm in Dublin, community activists from several migrant solidarity organisations Black Pride Ireland, MASI - Movement of Asylum Seekers in Ireland and Migrants and Ethnic-minorities for Reproductive Justice - MERJ have called for a mobilisation outside the US Embassy. Those who can attend are asked to remember social distancing at this time. This event is a non-party political and those attending should refrain from Party materials. For more information on Black Lives Matter Ireland Facebook event link here