Eliminate racism! Protest demonstration in Shibuya, Tokyo June 14 18:12
A black man in the United States was killed by a policeman who had his head restrained, and a protest demonstration was held in Tokyo Shibuya to eradicate racism.
In Minneapolis, Minnesota, Midwest USA, a protest demonstration is spreading all over the country last month after a black police officer, George Floyd, was killed by a white police officer holding his neck down on his knees.
On the 14th, a protest was held in Shibuya Ward, Tokyo, and occasionally it rained, and international students and Japanese university students living in Japan gathered around SNS calls.
Then, holding a placard with "BLACK LIVES MATTER" meaning "black people's lives are important" and "Let's protect human rights", 3 at the scramble crossing in front of Shibuya station and in front of Harajuku station crowded with shoppers. I walked over a kilometer.
According to the people concerned, the number of participants seems to have reached to thousands.
The people who participated called out "Let's stop discrimination" and called for eradication of racial discrimination.
Participation in protest demonstration Wishes of women who have suffered from prejudice and discrimination
23-year-old Ayaka Brandy, who participated in a protest in Tokyo, was born between a father from the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Africa and a Japanese mother. I have lived in Japan since 2 months old and have Japanese nationality, but I have been troubled by prejudice and discrimination against black people.
When I was using a crayon called "skin color" to draw my caricature in an elementary school class, my classmates said, "That's not your skin color," so you should be strongly aware that you are different from others. I'm sorry.
When I entered junior high school, I was told that I was good at basketball because I was a black man and when I was a black man, why did I have poor eyesight? I gradually lost confidence and moved away from my classmates. Then, I felt that I was afraid of my African roots, and I hate my father who I loved so much that I began to treat him coldly.
About that time, Ayaka recalled, "I was demanded on the basis of selfish stereotypes, which made it difficult. I began to laugh because I wanted to get along with other people, and I lost sight of myself."
After graduating from high school, Ayaka studied at a vocational school for design and is currently engaged in the production of illustrations and the design of fashion brands.
Against this backdrop, I tried to change myself in the Miss Contest. Under the theme of "Woman who contributes to society beautifully", she won the second prize at the Kanagawa Prefectural Games held last month, appealing "I want to create a society in which anyone with any background can shine" based on their own experience. I will participate in the national competition held in.
Mr. Ayaka feels that it is not easy to eliminate prejudice and discrimination in Japan, such as the fact that people who passed by even after entering a story were exposed to the heartless words "Why are there black people"? I am.
Even so, through this protest demonstration, I would like as many Japanese people as possible to realize that the incident in the United States was not a "fire on the opposite shore" and to give hope to people with the same circumstances as me. thinking about.
Ayaka, who walked in Shibuya with friends on occasional rain, said, “I was encouraged by the number of people with a similar idea, which will lead to courage in the future. Discrimination is also in Japan. I want each of us to understand that and reduce the number of people who are hurt like me."