Liberate wishes to express its horror at the recent killings of members of the African American community in the United States. We stand here in full solidarity with the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade and Ahmaud Arbery, and other black Americans killed by police brutality or white supremacist violence. That black Americans are incarcerated at more than five times the rate of white Americans speaks to a totally broken criminal justice system.

We stand too with UK victims of state racism, noting the horrors of the Windrush Scandal, the treatment of Grenfell Tower victims, and individuals who have died following rough treatment in police custody, including Jimmy Mubenga, Rashan Charles and Edson da Costa. Whilst black people make up 3% of the UK population, they account for 12% of the prison population.

Locally, the situation is far from perfect either, as in 2020 we still lack any protection for racially motivated discrimination in law. This is totally unacceptable and must be righted by the States urgently. We recommend that all islanders write to their deputies on the issue, and sign the following petition:

Anti-discrimination law Petition

Liberate aims to represent all LGBTQ+ people on the island, including LGBTQ+ people of colour. White islanders of any gender or sexuality will never have lived experience of racism. We believe it incumbent on white people as anti-racist allies to listen, educate themselves, challenge their own privilege and contribute to the fight against racism, whilst always prioritising and amplifying the voices of people of colour. Active anti-racism, rather than passive tolerance, is the only way forward. Liberate stands with all people of colour in the Bailiwick against racism here and abroad.

We therefore encourage all islanders, especially those who support LGBTQ+ equality, to support the Black Lives Matter movement, protestors, and bereaved families by donating what we can. The website of the Minnesota Freedom Fund, which supports bail for arrested protestors, can be donated to directly, and offers links and information on a wide range of black-led organisations and other bail funds.

Please visit the website of the Minnesota Freedom Fund (or the protestor bail funds from other cities in the US), Black Lives Matter (which has a US and a UK site) or the George Floyd Memorial Fund. All of these sites can be donated to directly. This news article from 9th June 2020 features a list of organisations working against anti-black racism.

We advocate for all islanders to have a look at some of the fantastic resources available on the internet to learn how to better support people of colour and the fight against racism, and to have conversations about them.

There is no lasting equality for any group whilst racial inequality remains so severe, and everyone has a significant role to play.

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