Do American lives matter more?
Since the murder of George Floyd by American police on May 25, the US, as well as the UK, Australia and other countries, has erupted into unprecedented protests and riots under the banner of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Though any murder of a civilian by an armed man is a tragedy to be avoided, and the blatant murder of George Floyd does undeniably point to racial issues in the US, it begs the question, why has there not been a global outcry against the attacks, murders and conflict that we face on our own continent?
Could it be that African lives are simply not as important as American lives?
After all, since the beginning of the year, 26 civilians in Mali have been killed in recent attacks by militia forces, at least 25 people, according to Al Jazeera, have been killed in the North East province of the Central African Republic.
In April, another 26 people were killed by unidentified soldiers in an attack against the Sudan Rapid Support base. In Nigeria this year, another 12 Nigerian soldiers have been killed by Boko Haram’s forces.
According to Human Rights Watch, at least six Kenyans have been killed by police forces since the beginning of the Covid-19 lockdown. Closer to home, South Africans have also faced police brutality.
Here’s another statistic, according to an article on the Doctors Without Borders website, written on June 5, 200,000 civilians have been displaced by conflict in the Ituri province — the same province where our fellow
South Africans, in the SANDF, have been on UN peace-keeping missions, with almost no real media coverage.
I find it grossly unfair that governments across the world, including our president, Cyril Ramaphosa, have taken an immense interest in the protests taking place in the US, as well meaning and just as they may be, yet the infinitely more unjust and violent attacks against the civilians of our continent, much closer to home, have been almost completely ignored.