By: Kayhan Int’l
With the eyes of the free world glued to the mass nationwide protests raging in the US against racism and police brutality, the capitals of the two former chief colonial powers are echoing with public anger for the past week against the lack of social justice, especially against non-white ethnicities, in Europe.
It is but natural for the ongoing protests in the US, following the brutal killing of Afro-American citizen, George Floyd by white police officers in Minneapolis some three weeks ago, to strike London and Paris with vengeance.
It was, however, most deplorable for the police in both Britain and France to use tear gas and batons on the peaceful rallies that called for equality of all races, and removal of the symbols of black slavery from public places, such as the statues of the colonialists that had enslaved Africa.
The anti-racism marches in Europe have been energized by demonstrations in the United States, where the protestors have pulled down the statues of several Confederate leaders, such as the president of the Secessionist South during the Civil War of 1861-65, Jefferson Davis – a slave owner in whom the current racist US president, Donald Trump, unabashedly takes pride.
They have also decapitated the statues of Christopher Columbus, who is credited in the West for his supposed discovery of the Americas and start of the exploitation of the New World by Spain, followed by the genocide unleashed by European powers on the indigenous inhabitants.
As a matter of fact, Britain and France, along with Spain and Portugal, are the chief culprits for depopulation of the Americas of their natives, and the organized kidnapping of the black African people for slave labour in the New World.
In other words, the plight of the African-Americans in the US is because of the inhuman policies of the European colonial powers, whose unapologetic heir today is the racist Trump.
In London, the butt of the people’s anger are the statues of Cecil Rhodes, who subjugated southern Africa for Britain, and of Winston Churchill, the British prime minister during the Second World War, who was a racist to his core.
It is unfortunate that the inhuman legacy of such racist persons continues to dominate the ruling class in not only London, but in the other capitals of Europe; hence the frequent outbreak of protests, followed by violence by white racist thugs, as happened in the British capital on Saturday.
The peaceful European protesters, who faced police brutality in Paris during the weekend, are denouncing the bigotry within their own countries and demanding that the authorities address it.
Instead of listening to their just demands, riot police in the French capital fired tear gas on thousands of anti-racism protesters marching through central Paris on Saturday.
Such highhanded behaviour by the so-called law enforcement forces, is in fact a blatant act of lawlessness, and would only harden the attitude of the exploited masses.
The French government ought to learn the lessons of the Yellow Vest Movement that raged for over a year in Paris and other cities, complete with acts of violence and police brutality, until the Coronavirus pandemic ended it, to the relief of the beleaguered president, Emmanuel Macron.
In London, it is time for one of the world’s most Covid-19-infected countries to redress the sufferings of the people, otherwise there won’t be peace and stability in Britain.
It was, however, most deplorable for the police in both Britain and France to use tear gas and batons on the peaceful rallies that called for equality of all races, and removal of the symbols of black slavery from public places, such as the statues of the colonialists that had enslaved Africa.
The anti-racism marches in Europe have been energized by demonstrations in the United States, where the protestors have pulled down the statues of several Confederate leaders, such as the president of the Secessionist South during the Civil War of 1861-65, Jefferson Davis – a slave owner in whom the current racist US president, Donald Trump, unabashedly takes pride.
They have also decapitated the statues of Christopher Columbus, who is credited in the West for his supposed discovery of the Americas and start of the exploitation of the New World by Spain, followed by the genocide unleashed by European powers on the indigenous inhabitants.
As a matter of fact, Britain and France, along with Spain and Portugal, are the chief culprits for depopulation of the Americas of their natives, and the organized kidnapping of the black African people for slave labour in the New World.
In other words, the plight of the African-Americans in the US is because of the inhuman policies of the European colonial powers, whose unapologetic heir today is the racist Trump.
In London, the butt of the people’s anger are the statues of Cecil Rhodes, who subjugated southern Africa for Britain, and of Winston Churchill, the British prime minister during the Second World War, who was a racist to his core.
It is unfortunate that the inhuman legacy of such racist persons continues to dominate the ruling class in not only London, but in the other capitals of Europe; hence the frequent outbreak of protests, followed by violence by white racist thugs, as happened in the British capital on Saturday.
The peaceful European protesters, who faced police brutality in Paris during the weekend, are denouncing the bigotry within their own countries and demanding that the authorities address it.
Instead of listening to their just demands, riot police in the French capital fired tear gas on thousands of anti-racism protesters marching through central Paris on Saturday.
Such highhanded behaviour by the so-called law enforcement forces, is in fact a blatant act of lawlessness, and would only harden the attitude of the exploited masses.
The French government ought to learn the lessons of the Yellow Vest Movement that raged for over a year in Paris and other cities, complete with acts of violence and police brutality, until the Coronavirus pandemic ended it, to the relief of the beleaguered president, Emmanuel Macron.
In London, it is time for one of the world’s most Covid-19-infected countries to redress the sufferings of the people, otherwise there won’t be peace and stability in Britain.
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