A clip from The Today Show has gone viral after an Australian reporter claimed that Aussies don't have the same understanding of a "history of police violence" as Americans do.
#BREAKING: Unlawful assembly declared as police try to control crowds. #9Today
The reporter was on-the-ground covering the Californian protests, in response to the death of George Floyd in police custody.
The comment came as the reporter thanked a black man for speaking to her during the protests — saying: "I really appreciate you giving your perspective mate, because people in Australia don’t have the understanding of the history of police killings and things here."
But Australians were quick to point out that, in reality, we have a long, tragic and ongoing history of police violence against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australia.
@TheTodayShow This is the most ignorant shit I have heard today. Australia doesn't have this "history of police violence" or colonisation, are you kidding me? Have you lot not heard of our Deaths in Custody? Palm Island? Redfern? Terra Nullius and the Frontier Wars? You're an embarrassing joke
Just last year, The Guardian published a database showing more than 400 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have died in custody since the end of the royal commission into Aboriginal deaths in custody in 1991.
The hashtag #AboriginalLivesMatter soon began trending on Twitter, with people calling out our country's erasure of the history of violence against Blak Australians.
400 deaths in custody since 1990. no cops ever charged. endless violence and intimidation from the police. Mob reporting assault only to be arrested for unpaid fines. it's the same story of white supremacy and zero justice here with us. #AboriginalLivesMatter
I don’t think a lot of people understand that Australia is just as bad as America. We are built on the innocent lives of indigenous people and we still have a racist system in place today. #AboriginalLivesMatter
The audacity of Morrison. The fact 400 plus Indigenous people have died due to police brutality without any charges. Australia is no better than America, we are just ignoring the problem. #AboriginalLivesMatter https://t.co/9cb0CaUAt2
Aboriginal Australians make up 3.3% of our entire population. 28% of Australia’s prison population are indigenous. Australians constantly try to forget or brush away the atrocities in our history. For over 200 years aboriginal people were murdered... #AboriginalLivesMatter
Police brutality, especially racially-motivated brutality, is NOT exclusive to America. It happens everywhere, including in Australia. #AboriginalLivesMatter
Some people also called out the lack of diversity in Australia's media landscape — which further contributes to the ignorant commentary surrounding racial injustices on home soil.
We desperately need more diversity in Australian media, preferably, Indigenous Australians. Some of the commentary is so lacking in insight a blank wall would communicate a more nuanced analysis.
@9NewsAUS has anyone noticed your ENTIRE reporting team are all white? Covering protests around race you literally just have white people end to end. This is not remotely good enough. This impacts your pov #BlackLivesMatters #AboriginalLivesMatter #RepresentationMatters
@9NewsMelb I just watched 5 Caucasian people report on the protests overseas. I'm not sure if you're aware, but there are Australian journalists who are not white and maybe..MAYBE, if you had diverse representation on your team you wouldn't have a white woman tell a black man ..
Communities around the world are continuing to come together in grief and rage to protest against police brutality and systemic racism. To get involved, please consider attending some of the upcoming Australian protests below.
Times and dates are correct at time of publication.
Sydney/Cadi:
Melbourne/Naarm:
For my melbourne oomfs. We got a BLM Protest coming up next weekend !
Brisbane/Meanjin:
blm protest in brisbane, aus [saturday june 6th]
Perth/Boorloo:
PERTH PROTEST 1st JUNE facebook event: https://t.co/J054KrHDZC
Starts at 5 p.m. today, June 1. Full details here.
Adelaide/Tarndanyangga:
America, Australia stands with you and in solidarity with the Aboriginal liberation struggle. Here’s the link to the Adelaide protest. See you there. See thread for other states. #BlackLivesMatter https://t.co/m9WbnGW0tx
