Wahib Ali and Safiah Hassan

Wahib

The murder of George Floyd, a Black man, at the hands of law enforcement in Minneapolis, has become a pivotal moment in the Black Lives Matter movement. This event, in addition to a string of other widely-publicized instances of police brutality and racial profiling, resulted in international outrage.

This sparked worldwide protests and triggered a global movement of addressing and combating racism. As diaspora Hararis, this is an issue of great significance to us; therefore, it is important to discuss our experiences with and the consequences of racism, as well as what we can do to combat it.

Due to the global scale of this movement, I had a conversation with Safiah Hassan from Murray, USA (currently living in Atlanta) and we discussed our personal experiences and thoughts on race, racism and its implications across borders:

Wahib

Hey Safiah,

The death of George Floyd has captured the world’s attention on racial discrimination, injustice, and the overall corrupt system that exists in the United States. As someone who is from the US, the root of this global movement, could you explain to us what is happening, what caused this to happen, and how we got here?

Safiah

Hey Wahib,

Everything we are currently witnessing is the consequence of countless years of injustice.

I firstly want to address that race is a social construct. Yes, there are physical differences in our skin tones, but the idea that these differences result in an inherent, genetic disparity in intelligence is a concept that has been fabricated and perpetuated throughout time.

Racism has been used as a means to justify usurping and withholding power–whether that is through colonialism, the Transatlantic slave trade, segregation, police brutality, the prison-industrial complex, or day-to-day interpersonal interractions. Although racism continues to modernize by manifesting itself in more covert ways, everything is connected. George Floyd was this era’s last straw. And people have, once again, had enough.

*Justice for Rayshard Brooks protest in Atlanta, GA*

By the way, my mentioning of race as a social construct is not to say people shouldn’t “see” color; instead, we should recognize that when we talk about current racial disparities, it is more so institutionalized, systemic racism (including environmental racism, disproportionate policing, inequitable distribution of resources, discrimination, and historical setbacks resulting in lower socioeconomic status) hundreds of years in the making causing adverse [insert literally anything here--health/life expectancy, education, employment, etc.] outcomes in African American communities.

I recognize these issues are also global, although I can only really speak to the ones I have seen here. I have heard a bit about the struggle of Aboriginal people in Australia. I assume the effects of institutionalized racism there are mainly seen in Aboriginal communities given their history? Also, as an aside--you spent some time in Japan, right? What does it mean to be Black in Japan?

Wahib

There are actually a lot of similarities between the treatment of Black people in Australia and Black people in America. In Australia, however, we are behind in highlighting and acknowledging these issues.

Indigenous deaths at the hands of law enforcement and other consequences of systemic racism here don’t generate national, let alone international attention. Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander people have long been victims of direct, structural and cultural racism and violence since colonisation began over 200 years ago. The natives of this land were massacred as they went from making up 100% of the population to just 3% and were also massacred to the point of extinction in Tasmania and very close to that here in Victoria.

And in recent history, in a manner chillingly similar to the death of George Floyd, David Dungay Jr, an Aboriginal man repeatedly begged “I can’t breathe” before he died whilst being restrained by 5 prison guards. All this whilst our prime minister, Scott Morrison is saying remarks like: "There's no need to import things happening in other countries here to Australia".

Another major issue affecting the Black community in Australia is the propagation of the African gang rhetoric by mainstream media. Crimes committed by Africans are reported in the news at an alarmingly disproportionate rate. The use of phrases like “African gangs”, generates a perception that young African Australians committing crimes are a part of some elaborate organisation when this is definitely not the case. The issue with this is not that crimes are being reported but rather the disproportionate amount of attention being generated and the way these incidents are being reported that inevitably results in racial rhetoric.

In Japan, as an African foreigner I was very quick to notice how much ‘Black culture’ was insincerely celebrated. People saw what I represented as a Black person before they saw me, and I’ve seen people and corporations try to exploit what Black people represent. Many brands, fashion labels and modelling agencies actively look for Black people to appear in their ads, collections and shows to appear more cultured, ‘hip’ and woke with complete disregard to why this is problematic. Tokenism is not a measure of racism in itself but can lay foundations to it or discriminatory actions.

As for my personal experience in Melbourne, also experienced by many of our African youth, are the constant confrontations by police without any reason. We have been questioned about our supposed involvement, affiliation or even knowledge of these so called “African gangs”. Also, the constant provocation of members of the public asking about our allegiance to these “gangs” and pushing for our denouncement of it is a daily occurrence for many. What about you Safiah, any personal experiences with racism or racial discrimination?

Safiah

I can surprisingly relate to your experience in Japan. Growing up in a small, homogenous college town in Kentucky, I encountered plenty of “accidental” racists--a lot of stares, quite a few microaggressions, and people often did not take me seriously.

For the most part, people had this Southern politeness; however, ignorance was still prevalent, especially when my identities were the target of many “jokes.” I was the only visibly Muslim woman most of my peers had ever met, and definitely the only Black hijabi they had ever met. I hold all these identities at once, so it is impossible to simplify every negative encounter as solely racism because, in reality, it was likely the intersectionality of my race, gender, and being visibly Muslim that contributed to my overall experience.

The way you mentioned sincerity also really resonates with me. Hearing you say that, I think part of what discouraged me from making lasting, genuine friendships from that stage in my life is that even when I did rarely feel included, a lingering disconnect remained because I felt there were very few people who sincerely liked me for me, and not just because I was different.

Recently, though, I have been pleasantly surprised to see people from my hometown express pro-BLM views since the resurgence of the movement. A petition has even recently begun to remove a Confederate statue currently standing in downtown.

In Australia, how has the current political climate worked to address the issues you mentioned earlier? I noticed the BLM movement is gaining traction there, as well. Are you all seeing similar changes in attitudes as what I saw in my hometown regarding these issues?

Wahib

Large groups of people demonstrated unprecedented support for the Black Lives Matter movement in many cities in Australia, unlike what we’ve seen before. As a country however, we are behind not only in addressing the racism that exists here, but also acknowledging it, with senators trying to motion “all lives matter” in parliament and not recognising historic facts of injustice in our country’s history.

Studies show that 3 out of 4 Australians hold an implicit bias towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. In a report by Beyond Blue that highlighted various racist attitudes and behaviour towards indigenous peoples, it was shown that 1 in 5 people will move away from an Indigenous person if they sat next to them. Even as recently as this month , one of our mainstream media outlets published the following comments: “the reality in this country - and the US - is that the greatest danger to aboriginals and negroes is themselves”. All this whilst 1 in 10 people have reported that they will not hire an indigenous person for a job.

Ironically, while protests were taking place on the streets, despite pushback from the PM and the public, another Aboriginal man died in custody.

And once again, this event is mirrored in your home city with the death of another unarmed Black man.

Safiah

Those last few points of yours are shocking and disheartening to hear. That kind of rhetoric is extremely dangerous, especially in the era of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor…

And now we add Rayshard Brooks, who was murdered by an Atlanta police officer, to the list.

*Rayshard Brooks protest in Atlanta, GA*

Seeing their names broadcasted as hashtags has undoubtedly been a global wake up call, but when it happens in your own community, it feels like pure heartbreak. And it makes you all the more passionate to do something about it in whatever capacity you can.

Each of these names represents a dire, explicit consequence of racism and further emphasizes the importance of addressing racism at every level--before it results in another hashtag. In my opinion, just because tokenism, as you mentioned earlier, is sometimes not considered as offensive as other forms of racism, does not make it any less important to address, as it is still a byproduct of it and perpetuates the larger issue at hand.

Being on the receiving end of otherization, microaggressions, and experiencing firsthand the toll they can take on someone, I want to address those issues within our own Harari community. One’s community should be a safe space. I don’t know about you, but I feel like that is also the place we have the most influence to catalyze change since we would be starting on a smaller scale.

In the next article, Safiah and Wahib will be addressing internalized racism in the Harari community, and what we can do to recognize and combat it.

Black Lives Matter: A Conversation Between Diaspora Hararis