As the George Floyd protests escalate across America, people around the world are standing in solidarity with the Black community by hosting their own Black Lives Matter events, including Australia. Unsurprisingly, Scott Morrison isn’t too happy at the idea of masses of people gathering together at a protest in support of Black Lives Matter and George Floyd, and has asked you all to maybe not do it.
The GOAT team talk about the George Floyd protests, Black Lives Matter, and how you can help while in Australia on ‘It’s Been A Big Day For…’ below:
Speaking to reporters (via ABC News), Scott Morrison has asked people to not attend the Black Lives Matter and George Floyd protests due to “health risks” and concerns over another COVID-19 outbreak.
“I say to them don’t go. Our message is very clear that the health risks of gathering in such large numbers and into close proximity are real.
“Let’s find a better way and another way to express these sentiments.”
You know what, fair enough. Scott Morrison’s COVID-19 reasoning is a genuine concern and having massive crowds gathering for the planned Black Lives Matter and George Floyd protests is a recipe for another outbreak, which will set back all the good work Australia has done at keeping the coronavirus at bay.
One can’t help but be wary of Scotty’s sincerity when he says “don’t go coz COVID-19 y’all”. After all, this is a bloke who called Australia a “wonderful” country (via The SMH) while addressing the US protests and failed to acknowledge (via The Guardian) our own history of racism and police brutality.
Then there’s also Scotty’s insistence on getting kids back into school and the economy going again while COVID-19 was still running wild, yet he seems insistent that people not go to these Black Lives Matter protests for the exact same reason. Just sayin’.
Beyond Scotty telling people not to go to the Black Lives Matter and George Floyd protests due to COVID-19, some of the events may not even go ahead because NSW police are asking the Supreme Court to step in on the matter.
Okay, so with the Black Lives Matter and George Floyd protests in Australia looking uncertain, the question now is how can you still support them without potentially exposing yourself to COVID-19?
Luckily, you can still do a lot and you don’t need to physically be at these protests (if they go ahead) to do it. You can:
- Donate – There’s a GoFundMe set up for George Floyd, as well as several organisations working to protect protesters, combat racism, and raising awareness about police brutality.
- Advocating for anti-racism – Set an example by actively calling out racism. Not being racist isn’t enough.
- Educating yourself and sharing – It’s up to us to learn about racial injustice and to share our knowledge and stories from people of colour so that their voices can be heard.
These are tense times right now and it is totally understandable why people are itching to get out there and protest in support of Black Lives Matter and George Floyd. But unfortunately, these are also strange times in which we’re still dealing with a pandemic so we have to be mindful of doing what we can in a safe and reasonable manner.
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