HRN has released an oral statement calling on the US government to pass measures to end police violence against Black Americans and disproportionate force against BLM protestors and to to investigate, prevent, and hold accountable destructive patterns of official discrimination, including destructive comments by the former President Trump against Asians and Asian-Americans which have also contributed to hate incidents against them. It must also address the systemic roots of discrimination in the US.
The oral statement was originally created and submitted to the Human Rights Council, but it was ultimately not played due to time limitations. We are releasing the version as we submitted it to the council as an independent oral statement.
You can watch the video below, and read a transcript of the statement below that.
Transcript of Oral Statement on Systemic Racism in the United States
Human Rights Now expresses concern over police violence and racial discrimination globally, exemplified by the 2020 protests for racial justice in the United States and the disproportionate police response.
The US has historically ingrained roots of systematic racial discrimination. Since George Floyd’s tragic killing last year, protests across America were met with excessive force, such as tear gas and rubber bullets, which were not even used against the largely white insurrectionists that attacked the Capitol on January 6. In the same year, US police killed over 229 Black people, similar to past years.
At the root of the problem is a legacy of white supremacy, hate, and discrimination creating systemic disadvantages for US minorities. Anti-minority rhetoric flourished under the Trump Administration, encouraging violence and hate which continue even now. The pandemic further enflamed discrimination, and hate incidents against Asians and Asian-Americans also increased in part due to the former president’s damaging comments against minorities, for which he should still be held accountable.
We call for the US government to pass legislation to end excessive police force, protect minorities by addressing the roots of racism and white supremacy, and to investigate, prevent, and hold accountable destructive patterns of official discrimination.
Thank you.