For the past several days, the police killing of a black man, George Floyd, has stoked righteous anger and protest across the United States.
It should never have taken a police officer kneeling on Floyd’s neck for almost nine minutes, as Floyd begged for his life, for protests of this scale to finally materialise, for people in our sector of culture to finally speak out against this country’s historic oppression of black people, hell, for me to write these words you’re reading.
That is another shameful chapter in a sorry story that repeats and repeats in this country as black people endure an unconscionable wait for justice.
To our readers now in pain, I grieve alongside you.
To those who don’t get it and even to those who think they do, it’s imperative now to listen to and amplify black voices. For white people like me, it’s imperative to examine the ways we’re complicit and work to do better. We must all be antiracist, and we must not let this priority fade.
Issues of police brutality and the need for racial justice don’t pause with the press of a button. The dehumanisation at the root of these problems pervades all parts of life and society, even the area we cover: where racism is all too common, yet where the presence of black people in game development and in games themselves is all too lacking. Change is only possible if people realise what matters.
I urge readers to follow our sister site, The Root, which is chronicling the protests and diagnosing the underlying causes.
And if you have the means to help, a good way to start is to donate to local bail funds in Minneapolis, Louisville and Brooklyn (There’s a longer list here).
Leave a Reply