Thousands attend anti-racism events
‘‘Black lives matter, indigenous lives matter, Muslim lives matter’’ is the ethos embraced by thousands taking part in protests across New Zealand.
Riots erupted in the United States after days of protests in the name of George Floyd, an African American man who died after being handcuffed and pleading for air as a white police officer knelt on his neck. The officer in question, Derek Chauvin, has been charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter.
But New Zealand events were peaceful, with several thousand people gathering in Auckland, and hundreds more in Christchurch, Dunedin and Wellington.
In one of the largest protests seen in central Auckland for several years, protestors overflowed from Aotea Square into Queen St.
About 4.30pm, thousands of people arrived outside the American Consulate, went down on one knee and chanted ‘‘are we next’’ and ‘‘black lives matter’’.
But the protest remained peaceful, with just a few police officers stationed at one end of the protest.
One organiser told the thousands gathered to go home peacefully.
‘‘Aotearoa is done for today. But tomorrow the fight starts again.’’
Kainee Simone, originally from America, said she was blown away by the thousands-strong turnout.
She told the crowd it was easy to think police brutality was not an issue in New Zealand because it was not as widespread or as visible as in the US, and because police weren’t as routinely armed, but that was changing fast.
Simone called on the crowd to listen to black, brown and Ma¯ori people when they described discrimination against them by New Zealand police.
One man, Redelond Tsounga, originally from the Republic of Congo, told the crowd he often experienced discrimination from New Zealand police.
Police have repeatedly gone out of their way to stop him while he is driving is Audi, he said.
Mixed martial arts star Israel
Adesenya described the discrimination he faces in upmarket Auckland suburbs while shopping.
‘‘They’re trying to militarise the New Zealand police. Let’s squash that s... straight away,’’ he added.
As well as talks, the Auckland event included a karakia from a Nga¯ti Wha¯tua representative and a minute’s silence for Floyd.
In Wellington yesterday, more than 100 people gathered for a protest march from Frank Kitts Park to Parliament.
Protestors moved on to Parliament grounds and chanted the names of African American victims of police brutality, told stories and shared their experiences. The names of black people who have been killed by police were to be be read out at a planned official candlelit vigil in the evening.
In Christchurch, more than 500 people gathered to send a message that ‘‘the world will not accept racism’’.
Organiser Will Hunter, a businessman and co-founder of the non-religious church group Sunday Assembly Christchurch, said the issue of racism and violence is ‘‘very dear to our hearts’’ in Christchurch.
‘‘I was here in [Cathedral] Square during the [March 15] mosque shootings and more than ever we need to show that we do not stand for any form of racism in our country.’’
Among the speakers was Josephine Varghese, a PhD student at the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at University of Canterbury.
She told the crowd that as well as being a memorial for Floyd, the event was a protest against the dehumanisation of colonised people everywhere.
‘‘We demand racial and economic justice,’’ she said. ‘‘Black lives matter, indigenous lives matter, Muslim lives matter.’’
In Dunedin, more than 1400 people had said they were interested in attending a protest yesterday.