Black Lives Matter

Alexis, stop. Before you start reading this, walk outside and look at kunanyi. Don’t just glance at it, really try to see it and then come back in and read this letter.
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Today, I acknowledge that I am living on palawa land, seas and waterways which they named lutruwita. I acknowledge, with deep respect, the muwinina people who are the traditional owners of the land - palawa land. The muwinina people belong to the oldest continuing culture in the world. They have cared for and protected this country for thousands of years. They know this land; they live on this land and they have died on this land. I honour them. 

For the muwinina people, the area around nipaluna (Hobart) is their country and the mountain (Mount Wellington) is kunanyi. Our island is deeply unique, with spectacular landscapes with our cities and towns surrounded by bushland, wilderness, mountain ranges and beaches. I acknowledge that it is a privilege to stand on the land and walk in the footsteps of those before us – beneath the mountain, among the gums and waterways that continue to run through the veins of the Tasmanian Aboriginal community.

I pay my respects to elders past and present and to the many Aboriginal people that did not make elder status and to the Tasmanian Aboriginal community that continue to care for country. Furthermore, I recognise a history of truth that acknowledges the impacts of invasion and colonisation upon Aboriginal people resulting in attempted genocide and forcible removal from their lands. I stand for a future that profoundly respects and acknowledges Aboriginal perspectives, culture, language and history. I recognise the need for a continued effort fighting for Aboriginal justice and rights, paving the way for a strong future.

George Floyd.

This is the name of the man whose death will be known throughout history as being the catalyst for the biggest black rights movement the world has ever seen.

On May 25th this year, he was murdered. As I was scrolling through Instagram, a video came up on my feed. I couldn’t watch. The caption warned me of disturbing content and went on to explain what had happened. I muted the video and scrolled down, continuing to read. A man was held down by police; gasping for air, gasping for his mum, gasping for them to let him breathe. 8 minutes later, the man had died. This man was black. His skin colour determined the way the police handled this situation and the way the police treated him. This sort of violence towards BIPOC (black, indigenous and people of colour) has been happening for years. Because at some point, sometime, somewhere in history, society decided that white skin had more value than any other colour. And despite all our advances in society, technology and medicine, we are still so backwards when it comes to race, skin colour and racism.

You see, this crime against George, this injustice, this murder, would have never happened to a Caucasian man.
Riots were started; statues of men who murdered, killed and enslaved black lives were pulled down. Soon, #blacklivesmatter was trending. This movement could be seen everywhere – the news, the radio, Facebook, Instagram, snapchat filters. In sports games, the players would drop to one knee in honour of black lives, showing their support. People marched, people rioted, and people came together in peaceful protests and vigils to celebrate, stand with, honour, and mourn. #blackouttuesday was observed on social media. And then, as trends do, the support for #blacklivesmatter faded and society started to focus on the next trend.

The video impacted society. It impacted me, even without watching it. However, it took another black life dying and a video on social media for the world to finally respond to an issue which needed to be addressed long before now.
Alexis, black lives matter; is not just a trend or a hashtag. Supporting humans is not ‘trendy’. These are real humans with families, friends, hobbies, hopes and fears. It is sickening that someone is treated with less value because of their skin pigmentation. Society has taken too long to wake up to the fact that skin colour is not a determination of character. Black lives and their experiences deserve to be more than just a trend and a news report. But their voices haven’t been heard, society hasn’t accepted and embraced their culture and their history. BIPOC haven’t been offered the grace of living in peace within society and the systems it has in place. Our systems, schools, communities, politics, and businesses undervalue, underrepresent and underappreciate BIPOC.

So, let’s start with the facts –

Our country’s history includes the murder, rape and kidnapping of Indigenous people at the hands of men who have been since turned into colonial heroes. Aboriginal & TSI people continue to suffer because our society has refused to take the time to understand their culture. BIPOC are blamed for not thriving within the constructs of a society white man has built to further himself and those of the same colour. However, white men will never accept this or take responsibility for it.

The land on which we walk, stolen from Aboriginal and TSI, hasn’t been returned to them. They have been alienated on their own country.
You sit in school and everything you learn about Aboriginal and TSI history is linked to the European settlement, as though they didn’t walk on this land for thousands of years before the invasion. As though they didn’t thrive on this land, and make this land thrive.

And then, European settlers choose to celebrate the day in which they stole the land. We say black lives matter, but still refuse to change the date. If black lives really mattered like we say they do, this wouldn’t even be a conversation.

If black lives matter like society says they do, there wouldn’t be a conversation around whether the name of Coon Cheese should be changed, it just would be changed. Or would have never been given that name.

Do you see how society is contradicting itself? They say black lives matter, but only if it doesn’t come at a personal cost and inconvenience to themselves and the wider society.

BIPOC, Aboriginals & TSI are highly underrepresented in parliament, in sport, in businesses, on our TVs, on stages, in stories, on games and in our media. When they do take part, they are always the token character, the sidekick, the thief, the drunk, the butler, the maid, the homeless person or the villain.

Outside of reconciliation week and NAIDOC week Aboriginal & TSI culture is under celebrated – a couple of weeks a year is not enough to honour these people and the strength they have brought and bring to society. How is it that society has missed that Aboriginal and TSI are the backbone of this nation?

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are more likely to experience police brutality, they are more likely to end up in jail, and they are more likely to die in jail. 70% of 10-year-old children in jail are Aboriginal children.
Aboriginal women’s life expectancy is 7.8 years less than that of non-indigenous women, while Aboriginal men live around 8.6 years less than their counterparts.

If you were to walk into a shop with a BIPOC friend wearing the same clothes, carrying the same bag, one of you would be watched to make sure you don’t shoplift. And it wouldn’t be you.
If you were to stand in court with the same charge, you would be favoured.
If you were to be interviewed in a job, you would be more likely to be chosen for the position than a person of colour.
You are more likely to get the promotion, make more money, and finish your education.
Your relationship with law enforcement will, in general, be more positive.
You are more likely to learn about white colonisation in Australia than First Nations history. Your culture and past are celebrated.
When you walk into a store to find makeup, it’ll be easy to find one to suit your skin tone.

I am only skimming the surface here as the issue is too big to cover in its entirety in one small letter, but this is the reason this letter is needed. We need a starting point for our minds and eyes to be opened and this is the starting point.

Your white skin favours you within society, it works to your benefit and gives you privileges that BIPOC don’t experience and won’t experience without drastic changes.
These changes would force those in power to relinquish their privilege. Committing to the necessary changes needed within society for equality, requires sacrifice. I wonder if society is ready to make sacrifices and give up their privilege? Maybe the necessary changes haven’t been made because those changes force us to self-reflect and confront our flaws. The reality of all of this is that the problem is not with BIPOC, but with Caucasian and the way they treat BIPOC.

Black lives don’t start to matter now because white men decided they do. I cannot stress this enough - Black lives have always mattered. Black, Indigenous, People of Colour have always mattered and will always matter. No skin colour has the right to dictate another’s worth. Black lives need to be treated for what they are - important, beautiful, strong, fierce lives with worth, hope, dreams, pasts, futures and value. They can no longer be treated as less than!!!

The problem has never been black lives, it’s always been white lives.

BlPOC are not causing issues, white people are. We are. I am and I have caused issues because we are casually racist. It is in our day-to-day lives, day-to-day conversations; “all taxi drivers are Indian”, “all bad drivers are Asian”, BIPOC are called ‘lucky’ when they make it into the spotlight. Why is it they are lucky? Do they not deserve to be there too, not out of luck, but just out of skill and talent?
Casual racism hides behind being inconspicuous, making it even more insidious.
If we aren’t yelling “abo” or booing a football player, we believe we don’t fit into the racist category and deny any affiliation with it because we miss it within ourselves. What would be more beneficial would be to look internally, admit our short falls and fix within ourselves the deep bias towards Caucasians which has been established within us from birth.
When we can’t see the problem lays within, we become passive because “I would never do that”. We allow for things to be said and done and because it doesn’t roll off our tongues, we believe we are in the clear.
Our silence, however, endorses a culture which favours white over black. In not correcting, not responding, not challenging, not reposting, not sharing, not donating, and not educating we are endorsing and allowing for this deep-rooted racism to be passed on and continue as it has always done.

I’ve been passive in the face of racism. I’ve become tense when I’ve heard something said or see something done. Instead of using my voice for change, fear has wrapped its hands around my vocal cords, and I’ve allowed for it to win. My silence has echoed through my mind for days, reminding me of the BIPOC lives I neglected to defend. It’s in my silence that I’ve said the most. My silence has endorsed racism, my silence has contributed to racism and my silence has made me racist. And my silence has silenced the voice of BIPOC. When I lift my voice, it amplifies their voice.

Racism has two voices - loud and quiet. The loud yells out racial slurs, the quiet is in the casual day-to-day, not as obvious but just as cancerous.

Anti-racism also has two voices - loud and quiet.

The loud takes the knee at a sporting match, posts a blog, reposts on social media, attends protests.
The loud voice of anti-racism recognises change needs to happen in society. The loud voice recognises that society is better when BIPOC are included, represented, recognised and through their voices being heard ongoing change can be implemented.

To become a loud voice, we first need to use the quiet voice. The quiet voice recognises that their lives are better off when there are people from all walks of lives influencing their day-to-day.
The quiet voice talks to others about their beliefs, is brave in talking with others when racism is recognised. The quiet signs petitions to change the date, reads books (I am reading Australia Day by Stan Grant), listens to podcasts (I am listening to Too Pretty to be Aboriginal and Always Was, Always Will Be).

The quiet voice recognises change needs to happen within themselves. I think the quiet voice is our starting point. Alexis, I can’t post this publicly and not stand for BIPOC privately. People cannot change the issues within society if they can’t see the issue first lays within their heart and mind.

And we need to be prepared to be corrected as we learn. It's time to be teachable - if we say the wrong thing and are corrected by BIPOC, we need to listen, because we don’t know, and we don’t understand. This is their narrative, their hurt, their voice. Saying something and getting it wrong is better than saying nothing at all, but if you’re ready to speak, you must also be ready to listen and learn. Yes, this is their narrative, but this is our fight. It's non-indigenous who are racist. It's you, it's me, which is why this is our fight.

When George Floyd was murdered, I posted on Instagram, “I don’t see your skin, I see your heart.” When I wrote it, it was with the best intentions. I’ve since learned that even that comment was ignorant. You see, what I should have written is, “I see your colour, I see your skin and I see your heart. I stand with you. Your skin colour doesn’t change the way I see you as a human and won’t change the way I treat you” When we see skin colour, we see and acknowledge the struggles and the racism that BIPOC face daily. When we see skin colour, it means that we are acknowledging that they are more likely to face hardship every day.

For far too long BIPOC have been downcast and downtrodden and society has been ill-informed on their character, their humanity, their history, and their legacies.

And now, society is missing out. We are missing out. What beautiful people they are. What rich, understated, overflowing and vibrant culture they hold, what a strong history they have to their name.

BIPOC have shaped and influenced our world, but it’s not as well known.

Our society lacks in so many ways because we are closed minded to those who can make a change. I think the answer is within focusing on the strength of BIPOC, allowing their voices which have past been silenced to now be lifted, to be amplified.

Alexis, it is not okay that black lives are less important than white ones in history and right now. The way society is currently functioning is not okay. Because COVID isn’t just the only virus destroying our world. Racism and the devaluing of BIPOC is a virus which has been around, killing millions, for thousands of years.
We can no longer claim ignorance to the difference in treatment.
I could have written this letter long ago, but I didn’t know. The black lives matter movement opened my eyes to the depth of racism within not just our society, but within myself. There is a disappointment I have in realising just how blind I was and that it took a movement for me to gain more understanding. I don’t want you to be blind to it, or complacent to it. The truth is scary and so is using your voice, but the opposite is completely unfathomable and unacceptable, and it scares me even more. It seems scarier to me to accept racism, to not stand with the BIPOC community, to not say anything.

The fading response to the black lives matter movement is not okay. The posts on social media are fading, the media isn’t covering it anymore, there isn’t an uproar. There is a real possibility of once again becoming complacent in our silence. That’s where we’re at as a society, we are at risk of falling back into complacency.
But this is where I want to step in, and want you to step in, where others need to step in. It shouldn’t take another death or severe act of racism to spark an uproar again. I’ll use the voice I have, to teach you to use the voice you have, to amplify the voices of BIPOC. I’ll repost and talk and advocate. We’ll read and have conversations. We’ll learn together. We, you and I, will be an advocate for change, we will use our voices to be heard, so the voices of the BIPOC community, which have been silenced for far too long, are the voices we hear the most.
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Alexis, BLACK LIVES MATTER.