Uploaded July 2016 | Updated September 2026, 8 hours ago
Statement given to the Black Live Matter Dublin solidarity demonstration by the organising groups, Anti-Racism Network and the Movement of Asylum Seekers in Ireland. July 12th 2016
The Anti-Racism Network and the Movement of Asylum Seekers in Ireland have called this demonstration today to show solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement in the US. We condemn the horrific acts of violence perpetrated on a daily basis by US law enforcement against Black bodies. In 2015, Black males aged between 15 and 34 were five times more likely than white males of the same age to be killed by the police.
It is clear then that a Black person’s mere existence still represents a threat worthy of extermination, as evidenced by the circumstances surrounding the deaths of Trayvon Martin, Miriam Carey, Tanisha Anderson, Tamir Rice, Mya Hall, Eric Garner, Sandra Bland, Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, to name but a few. And no matter how incontrovertible the evidence in any given case that no actual threat exists, the perpetrators in law enforcement can be assured of absolute impunity with regard to their actions.
This culture of impunity is nothing short of state-sanctioned murder of members of the US’s Black population, and it represents the brutal edge of a much more all-encompassing system of structural racism. Other manifestations can be seen in the education and housing systems, in prison incarceration rates, in the makeup of communities affected by poverty and drug abuse, and in media and political representation.
However this devaluing of dark skin also stretches beyond the borders of the US and informs our reactions to the 10,000 people that have drowned in the Mediterranean since 2014, and to the 5,000 people currently incarcerated in the Direct Provision system here in Ireland.
We therefore stand in solidarity with the #BlackLivesMatter movement in the US and their struggle against deeply ingrained institutional racial prejudice, but also against the international system of white supremacy.
Statement given to the Black Live Matter Dublin solidarity demonstration by the organising groups, Anti-Racism Network and the Movement of Asylum Seekers in Ireland. July 12th 2016
The Anti-Racism Network and the Movement of Asylum Seekers in Ireland have called this demonstration today to show solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement in the US. We condemn the horrific acts of violence perpetrated on a daily basis by US law enforcement against Black bodies. In 2015, Black males aged between 15 and 34 were five times more likely than white males of the same age to be killed by the police.
It is clear then that a Black person’s mere existence still represents a threat worthy of extermination, as evidenced by the circumstances surrounding the deaths of Trayvon Martin, Miriam Carey, Tanisha Anderson, Tamir Rice, Mya Hall, Eric Garner, Sandra Bland, Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, to name but a few. And no matter how incontrovertible the evidence in any given case that no actual threat exists, the perpetrators in law enforcement can be assured of absolute impunity with regard to their actions.
This culture of impunity is nothing short of state-sanctioned murder of members of the US’s Black population, and it represents the brutal edge of a much more all-encompassing system of structural racism. Other manifestations can be seen in the education and housing systems, in prison incarceration rates, in the makeup of communities affected by poverty and drug abuse, and in media and political representation.
However this devaluing of dark skin also stretches beyond the borders of the US and informs our reactions to the 10,000 people that have drowned in the Mediterranean since 2014, and to the 5,000 people currently incarcerated in the Direct Provision system here in Ireland.
We therefore stand in solidarity with the #BlackLivesMatter movement in the US and their struggle against deeply ingrained institutional racial prejudice, but also against the international system of white supremacy.
