Briggs Shares Powerful Statement On George Floyd And Australia’s Racist History
"Australia parades this idea of "The Lucky Country"; but their luck is our dispossession. Their luck is our death."
Writer and rapper Briggs has released a powerful statement regarding the killing of George Floyd, reflecting on Australia’s own shameful history of systemic racism and police brutality towards Indigenous people.
Floyd, a 46-year-old African American man, was killed in Minneapolis last Monday after police officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee against his neck. While on the ground, Floyd repeatedly told Chauvin and the surrounding officers that he could not breathe; his pleas were ignored. Protests and riots have since erupted in major cities across the United States.
“I empathise with the protestors in the US,” Briggs shared in a post across social media today. “I empathise with the protestors because Australia has its own history of police brutality and Indigenous deaths in custody. There have been more than 400 Indigenous deaths in custody, and not a single conviction.
“Australia was founded on White supremacy,” he continued. “…and built its wealth on the murder, rape and slavery of its Indigenous people. Australia parades this idea of “The Lucky Country”; but their luck is our dispossession. Their luck is our death. Their luck is our trauma. Their luck is our grief.”
In the attached caption, he offered solidarity with his friends, peers, and colleagues stateside.
“We see you, we hear you. Always was, Always will be with my Mob at home. Yorta-Yorta-.”
Read Briggs’ full post below.