On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, was killed in Minneapolis, Minnesota by a police officer. This isn’t the first we’ve heard of police unjustly killing BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color). The incident was caught on video and we see George Floyd pinned down on the floor chocking to death by the officer’s knee. As he screams for his life, the officer doesn’t move an inch and Mr. Floyd takes his last breath under the knee of systemic racism.The video went viral and the world saw yet again the constant discrimination African Americans face in a white supremacist world.
On June 5th 2020, Jacob Callender-Prasad and his team organized a peaceful protest for Black Lives Matter and Anti-Racism. Thousands of people packed into Vancouver’s Jack Poole Plaza to fight systemic racism. The event mediator kept reminding us to keep it PEACEFUL and stay aware of social distancing. Masks, gloves, hand sanitizer were being distributed amongst the people and they implemented a social distance dance every hour to be reminded we’re still in a pandemic. The rollercoaster of emotions came from all the guest speakers sharing what they’ve been through, how they feel, how hurt they’ve been, how they’ve been treated and how they’ve been discriminated simply because of the color of their skin.
And if we think the problem is mostly in America, think again. Canada is also built on a white supremacist platform and BIPOC are subject to police brutality, racism and discrimination. Look at what has happened with Wet’suwet’en. The RCMP were firing shots at First Nations for protecting their land. These were peaceful protestors with no arms. 2% of Canadian population is African American, 10% of prisoner in Canada our African American and 70% our indigenous. Racial profiling happens every day for BIPOC. Indigenous people have been stripped away from their language and culture. There’s not enough media around the atrocities that has happened in these communities. Our Canadian government implemented residential schools in the hopes for a brighter future for white supremacist. Did you know that it was only in 2000 that the last residential school was closed?That was 20 years ago. We’ve been racist, we’re still racist, and we can’t keep pretending that Canada isn’t killing BIPOCs.
So take the time to listen to their stories and feel their pain. Imagine what racism can do to a young child and an adult. Imagine the self determination that’s stripped away from them. They are left thinking that they are lesser than, and that’s just not fair. It shouldn’t matter what your skin color looks like.
It’s important to inform yourself, to relearn how to include more BIPOC people in your companies, organizations and every day lives. There’s a lot to dismantle and it begins with you. These protest are made to spread awareness and to remove hate from our systems. It’s time to do the work and open your minds to new perspectives.