” The fact that they tried to prevent us from scrolling, this gives even more desire for people to do so. “Tens of thousands of Australians have beaten the pavement, Saturday, June 6, 2020 in the entire country, to denounce the racial inequalities. An angry mob that had defied the instructions of the government and the pandemic of Covid-19.
In Sydney, at least 20 000 people participated in the parade, initially banned and then allowed by the justice a few minutes before its start. On Friday, the Prime minister, Scott Morrison, asked the protesters to stay home, because of the health crisis : “find a better way of expressing these emotions, without endangering their own health “. In the capital of New South wales, the parade remained peaceful, but a face-to-face stretched between the police a few hundreds of protesters in the dark of the night. Three people have been arrested, according to police.
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“I can’t breathe”
In the protests, many wore protective masks and were trying to be respectful of the physical distances as best they could. In Melbourne in particular, they had been warned they risked fines if they did not comply with the measures of distance. Protesters brandished banners proclaiming ” I can’t breathe “, in reference to George Floyd, a black American 46-year-old was asphyxiated by a white policeman in Minneapolis, whose death has sparked a protest movement in history that has spilled over the borders of his country.
In Australia, he caused a special resonance because of the racist legacy that mark the history of the country. The event organisers have explained that they also wanted to denounce the imprisonment rates very high among Aboriginal people and deaths in custody of members of this community – more than 400 in the last thirty years. No prosecution has been initiated despite dozens of investigations and videos.
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While recognizing that it needed to be done on the question of the Aborigines, the Prime minister rejected Friday any parallel with the racial inequalities in the United States. “Treat this as an Australian and not ownership of what is happening in other countries,” he said.
