We share the anger and outrage over the murder of George Floyd and the murders of countless other people of color by an out of control and militarized U.S. police system. The majority of these murders have taken place without being filmed and the majority of the names we will never know. But we do know that they were victims of an unjust and racist system. The United States has a violent history starting with the genocide of the Native population; a people who up to the present endure racist U.S. policies in areas of economic, health, and cultural well-being.
We stand with those seeking justice in the streets and note the multi-racial, multi-age, gender diverse make-up of the protesters. We stand with those most impacted by the unjust criminal “justice” system, the unjust economic system, and the unjust health system. It is people of color whose communities are negatively affected by decades of environmental racism leading to poorer health, by inferior educational systems, by lack of employment opportunities, by absence of transportation, as well as the well documented policy of police brutality.
We stand with those taking to the streets and condemning the United States government policy of encouraging violence by issuing statements threatening to unleash vicious dogs, to shoot looters, telling police to “not be nice”, to use the unlimited power of the military, to encourage people to use their 2nd amendment rights, etc.
We note the moral bankruptcy of a government that professes outrage at violence resulting from centuries of racism yet supports the presence of protesters with automatic weapons in the State Capital of Michigan, that ignores the terrorist attack on the Cuban Embassy in Washington by an individual with an assault rifle who is connected to the anti-Cuban reactionaries in the U.S., and that at every opportunity dehumanizes people of color.
The whole world is watching and reacting to the ugly reality of life for people of color in the United States. While the U.S. imposes sanctions and blockades on countries such as Cuba; it deprives its own populace of the right to a peaceful, just, and equitable society. Compare the streets of the United States with those of Cuba. In the U.S., streets full of police in riot gear and weapons, in Cuba streets full of medical personnel testing and caring for their neighbors. Compare the U.S. international presence threatening, sanctioning and waging war with Cuba’s international presence of hundreds of medical workers offering healing to nearly two dozen countries combating Covid-19.
We can all do more. It’s not enough to not be racist; we must work toward becoming anti-racist. Again, we commend the crowds in the streets across this nation and join their demands for justice for all victims of U.S. perpetrated racist abuse.
June 1, 2020
(click to enlarge, l to r) René González of the Cuban Five, from Hubert Sauper’s Epicentro, iconic singer/songwriter and Cuban Literacy brigadista Silvio Rodriguez, Eliades Ochoa of the Buena Vista Social Club, from El Último Balsero (The Last Rafter), Author and Poet José Lezama Lima
