At ISH, our diverse community of staff and students is deeply affected by recent events stemming from the devastating death of an unarmed black man, George Floyd, at the hands of Minneapolis Police and captured on video. The reality of police brutality, discrimination and structural racism was brought into sharp focus: prompting a global response of protest across many countries and gaining major visibility for the issue on social media.
As an organisation we stand firmly against racism. We stand in solidarity with victims of discrimination; those who are attacked, singled out and weighed down by oppression because of the colour of their skin. We stand for challenging the racist structures that support these inequalities in our society.
We recognise that racism is not confined to acts of verbal and physical violence; it is the ideology that underpins many systems that unfairly impact people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic groups.
In this moment the issue of race has a global stage. There is a collective of voices, across races and generations, raising awareness of racial injustice and calling for change. This is encouraging, but we must not be complacent or passive in this matter. Now is the time for us all to assess how we can actively advocate for equality, and at ISH we commit to using our platform to bring light to the issues that impact our global community. If you are seeking to learn more about racism and how to be an ally, you can find a good list of suggested resources in this post on the ISH blog.
As always, we encourage you to share your thoughts and ideas with us. Send us your news and story items that you would like shared with the community.
Look after yourselves and show love to others. To continue battling a pandemic whilst challenging racism, we need the spirit of collective support.
Please stay safe,