Black Lives Matter and ‘Anti-Racism’
“It is no longer enough to simply say we are ‘not racist’. We must be actively anti-racist.”
At YSAS we have a diverse workforce that includes and benefits from the experience of many people of colour. This includes YSAS people who are Aboriginal and of a wide range of racial and ethnic backgrounds. Similarly, there is rich diversity among the young people, families and communities that we join with through our work.
It is structural and perpetuated by social institutions and systems that privilege white Australians, particularly those who grew up in this Country. A place to start is this article on 10 Things You Should Know About White Privilege.
YSAS uses our privilege to create the conditions within our organisation to hear and amplify the voices of young people and colleagues of colour. Their experiences of racism need to be understood and addressed.
We are committed to being actively anti-racist. This requires us as an organisation to interrogate ourselves and identify implicit biases and barriers that may be embedded in our systems and policies. Then we have to make the necessary changes.
While we recognise that racism is not just interpersonal, YSAS staff are provided with an extensive list of Australian based and international anti-racism resources including books, articles, podcasts, films and lists of social media sites.
We encourage all YSAS staff and volunteers who are from privileged backgrounds to learn what it means to be a good Ally/Accomplice and act on it. Also to learn what performative Allyship means and how to avoid it. If any of us are ‘called out’ for something we say or do, we do our best to avoid becoming defensive and instead, stay calm, listen, acknowledge and apologise, inquire about what you could we could do better or differently and move on with changed behaviour and thinking.
In relation to the Black Lives Matter movement, the murder of George Floyd at the hands of police in the US has sparked outrage worldwide at the ongoing issues with police brutality and racial profiling in the US.
YSAS has a strong track record of collaborating with Victoria Police and supporting ethical and effective community policing but we also acknowledge that Australia has a long history of police brutality and racial profiling against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Click here to watch a recent segment on ‘The Project’, where the daughter of Aunty Tanya Day is interviewed and the links with the US Black Lives Matter movement are discussed.
We must be vigilant in standing against racial profiling and excessive use of force towards young people from African and Pacifica backgrounds and other people of colour from migrant communities in Australia. This article highlights issues around racial profiling of African Australian youth in Melbourne.
Please find a list of Australian organisations that you can donate with to support ‘Anti-Racism’ in Australia
The Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service
National Justice Project
Black Rainbow
Grandmothers Against Forced Removals
Healing Foundation
Flemington Kensington Community Legal Service ‘Police Accountability Project’