Off with his head! This statue of Christopher Columbus in Boston was beheaded by anti-racism protesters.

The words “America” and “racism” seem to be inextricably linked – to the shame of everybody in authority there.

This Writer has been trying to keep up with events since the killing of George Floyd and it is practically impossible, especially if one wants to comment on those events too.

Here’s a truncated timeline of events. Feel free to send links in to the comment column so I can add to this and improve it:

Also on June 12:

Christopher Columbus Statues Beheaded, Pulled Down Across America

“As monuments to controversial figures face a reckoning around the world, protesters in Massachusetts, Minnesota and Virginia have targeted statues of Christopher Columbus, damaging or pulling down three in a matter of days.

“In St. Paul, demonstrators toppled a ten-foot-tall statue that stood in front of the Minnesota state capitol. In Richmond, protesters pulled down an eight-foot-tall statue in Byrd Park, carrying it about 200 yards before setting it on fire and throwing it into the nearby Fountain Lake. And, around 12:30 a.m. Wednesday, police in Boston received a report that a marble statue of the Italian explorer and colonizer had lost its head.”

June 14:

June 16:

Buffalo protester Martin Gugino has a fractured skull and cannot walk

June 17:

Black people ‘dependent’ since slavery, Mississippi official says after rejecting removal of Confederate monument

“A white Mississippi official claimed that African Americans have been “dependent” since slavery, following a meeting where a proposal to take down a Confederate statue was rejected.

“Harry Sanders, who is a Lowndes County supervisor, made the offensive comments during a Board of Supervisors meeting on Monday.

“The board were discussing the possible removal of a Confederate statue on the lawn of the county courthouse in Columbus, that has stood there since 1912.”

Rayshard Brooks death: Police officer Garrett Rolfe charged with murder

“The former Atlanta police officer who killed Rayshard Brooks has been charged with 11 offences including felony murder following the death of the 27-year-old black man in a Wendy’s restaurant car park.

“Garrett Rolfe, who fired two shots into Mr Brooks’s back on 12 June, could face life in prison or the death penalty if convicted

“Mr Rolfe was fired and police chief Erika Shields resigned just hours after the shooting. The other officer, Devin Brosnan, was placed on administrative duty. He also faces a charge of aggravated assault. Arrest warrants have been issued for both men.”

Why protesting racism during a pandemic is important – an epidemiologist explains

“Widespread protests have broken out across the United States in response to the police killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and many other black Americans at the hands of police. Demonstrations have also erupted in the UK, Australia, France and several other countries in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement and in protest at these countries’ own domestic cases of institutional racism.

“The fact that these protests are happening in the middle of a pandemic raises certain issues regarding the spread of the virus, but also they highlight deep inequalities that exist due to structural racism and its effects on people’s health.

“It is no coincidence that the people who are most at risk of dying due to institutional racism are also those who are most at risk of COVID-19.

“Protests, by their nature, lead to the clustering of large groups of people. Police are dealing with this by crowding people together to control their movements, a tactic known as “kettling”, and spraying tear gas. When protesters are detained, they are often placed in crowded vans and cells.

“These conditions are ideal for the transmission of COVID-19. Tear gas irritates mucous membranes, causing people to cough and remove face masks. The proximity of other protesters increases the risk of infection. Additionally, people who are asymptomatic play a large role in infection and increase the possibility of transmission in settings where physical distancing is nearly impossible to observe, such as in jail cells.

“The interconnected nature of racism, structural inequalities and health cannot be ignored. Black people are dying at three times the rate of white people in the US due to COVID-19.

“Similar to COVID-19, police killings and structural racism are major threats to public health, and the protests bring these issues to the forefront of public discussion. From an epidemiological perspective, there are certainly risks of increased COVID-19 spread as a direct result of the protests – but the racial disparities in health (which have the same roots as police brutality) and implementation of measures which address these are just as important.

“Many protesters are from communities of colour, which have been hardest hit by the effects of the pandemic. They are not acting out of ignorance, but out of necessity.”

But racism goes both ways. Why did this guy push a woman so that she cracked her skull on a fire hydrant?

Have YOU donated to my crowdfunding appeal, raising funds to fight false libel claims by TV celebrities who should know better? These court cases cost a lot of money so every penny will help ensure that wealth doesn’t beat justice.

https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/mike-sivier-libel-fight/

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