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George Floyd protests
OpinionLetters

Letters | US protests and George Floyd: why Hong Kong should care about ‘Black Lives Matter’

  • White supremacy and systemic racial injustice should be universally condemned. If Hong Kong as a city is serious about pursuing a just and fair society, then we must demand justice for all

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Demonstrators hold colonial-era Hong Kong flags during a protest against China’s planned national security law for the city, at the IFC shopping mall in Central on May 25. In Hong Kong, a culture of superiority rests on a problematic belief that the city and its citizens are inherently superior by virtue of being a former colony. Photo: Bloomberg
Letters
Given the events of the past few weeks in Hong Kong, it is easy to feel far removed from what is happening halfway around the world. On social media, there were many who felt the death of George Floyd and subsequent protests were not relevant to Hong Kong, or that they did not fully understand racial injustice in America. The Black Lives Matter movement was seemingly irrelevant to a city that is predominantly ethnically Han Chinese.
Yet, at the same time, pro-American (and pro-Trump) voices grow louder within the democracy movement in Hong Kong, with the United States held up as a model and our champion of democracy even as their justice system fails to protect its most vulnerable. As Hongkongers, we need to support others in their acts of resistance, not just for ourselves. White supremacy and systemic injustice should be universally condemned.

We need to question inequality and brutality, and not expect that, because the system is a democracy, it would automatically fix itself. In reality, America is running as intended, exactly because the entire system is designed to divide its citizens by race. The country is founded on the genocide of indigenous peoples and built on the backs of slaves. White people are afforded access and privileges denied to people of colour.

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Demonstrators hold up placards reading “Stop police violence” and “To die for the colour of skin?”, in Toulouse, southern France on June 3. At least 2,000 people protested against police violence and racism in memory of late US citizen George Floyd as well as French citizen Adama Traore, 24, who died in 2016 in police custody. Photo: AFP
Demonstrators hold up placards reading “Stop police violence” and “To die for the colour of skin?”, in Toulouse, southern France on June 3. At least 2,000 people protested against police violence and racism in memory of late US citizen George Floyd as well as French citizen Adama Traore, 24, who died in 2016 in police custody. Photo: AFP
Meanwhile, in Hong Kong, “white supremacy” continues to exist in the form of a problematic belief that Hong Kong as a city and its citizens are inherently superior by virtue of being a former colony.
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Ultimately, white supremacy hurts us all. In a white supremacist world, the only correct way to act is to be more “Western”, and failing to do so is a failing of moral character. It builds a racial hierarchy that places people from East Asia above people from other Asian regions; this is evident as our city relies on the migrant labour of South and Southeast Asian workers, who face heavy discrimination and exploitation.
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