Author: Dan Yi
21 seconds of silence!
On June 2, local time, when suddenly asked about how to view the US demonstrations, Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau was speechless for a while.
Twenty-one seconds later, Trudeau said, "We are all shocked to see what is happening in the United States." "It's time to unite and listen to the people's voice."
Trudeau once again admitted that Canada has systematic discrimination against people of color and minorities.
On May 30 local time, outside the Toronto Police Headquarters in Canada, several protesters embraced each other.
"The pictures and stories from the United States are too familiar"
This is not the first time Trudeau has spoken. Just a day ago, he also commented that for Canadians, “the pictures and stories from the United States are too familiar”, “we cannot pretend that racism does not exist here”.
Freud, an African-American man, was killed by police violent law enforcement, which has triggered protests in at least 140 cities in the United States and continues to spread globally. The incident became a "catalyst for the outburst of global anger"-"The New York Times" described that "a wave of criticism roared from the streets of Berlin, London, Paris and Vancouver, British Columbia to the capitals of countries in Africa, Latin America and the Middle East"
Canada and Brazil, which are on the American continent with the United States, have recently staged anti-racist demonstrations. In addition to the Freud incident, the case in its own country has also become a fuse.
On the afternoon of May 28 local time, Regis, a 29-year-old black woman in Toronto, Canada, died inexplicably in the presence of a police officer. Police later said that Regis committed suicide by jumping from the building, but Regis's mother and other family members said through social media that the police pushed Regis from the balcony.
Many Canadians subsequently broke out in peaceful demonstrations against racism. Some demonstrators chanted the slogan "Stop killing black women." They said that not only for the murder of Regis but also to everyone who was treated unfairly by the police and the judicial system.
On May 30 local time, Toronto, Canada, protesters took to the streets to demonstrate.
In late May, a 14-year-old black teenager from the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, was shot dead in the abdomen by the police during the confrontation between the police and the criminals. His family could not board the helicopter to rescue the boy, nor received any news, and sought him at the hospital and police station all night. But they only found his body in a medical institution the next morning.
The US "World News" reported that an average of 6 people died every day under police guns during the outbreak in Rio. Most of them were of African descent.
This incident and the subsequent death of Freud angered the Brazilian people. On May 31, hundreds of Rio de Janeiro protesters demonstrated in front of the state government building, holding the slogan "African and slum dwellers are also life", demanding that the police stop improper law enforcement.
On May 31, local time, outside the state government of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, people protested police violent law enforcement.
In the protest against the bus system fare increase in October 2019, hundreds of protesters in Chile were injured or even blinded by the police. A picture of the Chilean flag that says "I can't see it" and the American flag that says "I can't breathe" are circulated on social media.
The leftist MP Gabriel Boric compared the racism of immigrants and aborigines to the United States and Chile on social media and wrote "We are all George Freud".
"One person hurt, we all hurt"
From posters on the Iranian wall to flowers filled outside the US embassy in Mexico City; from Freud’s “last words” written on the wall in Berlin to portrait murals next to the ruins in Syria, people in many countries are Freud mourned.
In Berlin, thousands of demonstrators held a peaceful protest outside the U.S. Embassy on May 30, and someone held the slogan "Don't kill us again". In the Bundesliga football league, a player kneeled on one knee in protest, and another player wrote the slogan "Justice for George Freud" on the jersey.
On May 31, local time, in Berlin, Germany, a man stood outside the US embassy in Germany holding a slogan to protest the death of an African-American man caused by the violent law enforcement of the US police.
Demonstrations also spread to Britain across the English Channel. On May 31, nearly 5,000 demonstrators gathered in Trafalgar Square, London, UK, holding up placards with words such as "Racism has no place to stand". Hundreds of people kneeled on one knee for nearly 9 minutes, which was the time when the white policeman knelt against Freud. Some demonstrators shouted, "Britain is not innocent!"
British video blogger Chia said that in the UK, racial discrimination is reflected in schools and workplaces. For example, in schools, black students are more likely to be expelled than whites. "Schools will control the hair of black students. We are not allowed to comb certain hairstyles and dye certain colors, but white students can dye their hair any color."
"In the workplace,'microdiscrimination' always exists. Everyone I know has experienced some ignorant comments from colleagues and supervisors."
On May 31, local time, in London, England, in front of the US Embassy in Britain, a large number of people knelt down on the road to protest the death of an African-American man caused by violent law enforcement by the US police.
Maya, who serves in the upper house of the British parliament, said that when she first heard about Freud’s death, she felt like "someone hurt me". British woman Sha Yan said: "We are in pain when one person is injured, because the same thing may happen to us."
Belgium, Holland, Australia, New Zealand, Greece... Thousands of people shouted the last sentence recorded before Freud on the far mainland: "I can't breathe anymore", and I support the minority groups across the sea. A demonstrator said that racial discrimination is a virus that is more serious than the new crown epidemic.
"No one should die in that way"
"Freud's death" evokes people's sad memories, and let some tragic incidents of racial discrimination emerge from the dust of history again.
Australia has reopened the debate on police abuse of violence. The New York Times stated that it was pointed out that since 1991, more than 400 Aboriginal Australians have died in police custody. However, no policeman was convicted of abuse of power.
In 2015, Aboriginal David Dengai was controlled by Australian prison guards and said "I can't breathe" 12 times before death. His relatives said that the video of the death of American African-American man Freud hurt them deeply, prompting them to call again to investigate Deng Gai’s death.
In Paris, among those calling for demonstrations were the families of Adama Traore. In 2016, the 24-year-old Adama was subdued and crushed to the ground by the police on the outskirts of Paris, and then died in custody. Adama’s sister Assa said that Freud’s death was a repetition of Adama’s tragedy.
On May 30 local time, thousands of people in Paris violated the ban on assembly and went on street demonstrations. A large number of police rushed to the scene to disperse the demonstrators and arrested nearly 100 people. China News Service reporter Li Yangshe
"When he was suppressed by the three policemen and kept saying'I can't breathe', how could it not be reminiscent of the suffering of Adama," "Returning the Truth of Adama" wrote on social media. "His name is George Freud, and like Adama, he died because he was black."
Former US President Bill Clinton said that no one should die in the same way as George Freud. Many people are angry because a person's life path is judged and degraded because of their skin color.
Martin Luther King said in a speech "I Have a Dream" 57 years ago that he hopes that his four children will be judged in a country not by their skin color, but by their merits and demerits. Life, but in today's America, this dream seems even more distant. (Finish)