United Against Racism (UAR) Carlow/Kilkenny are organising a public Zoom meeting with speakers from the Movement of Asylum Seekers Ireland (MASI) and United Against Racism. It will be chaired by People Before Profit Cllr Adrienne Wallace. The meeting is taking place on Monday 26th at 7pm and the link to register can be found at the facebook page ‘@UARCKK’. The meeting will be discussing a broad number of issues from the far-right’s anti lockdown messaging, MASI’s permission to remain campaign for asylum seekers, solidarity during Covid and systemic racism.
Speaking ahead of the meeting Memet Uludag, from UAR said “This week the trial surrounding the death of black man George Floyd came to a conclusion. The white cop at the centre of the trail, Derek Chauvin, was found guilty of George Floyd’s manslaughter and faces up to 40 years in prison. Global protests sprung up last year in response to the killing and there’s no doubt that these vibrant people power movements led to this verdict. Global discussions have emerged about the nature of systemic racism and racial policing. UAR have been calling for a public enquiry into the shooting of George Nkencho outside his home earlier this year. George was a young black man from Blanchardstown with mental health issues, he needed help not bullets.”
He added “Calls for an independent enquiry have heightened since footage emerged of George’s mother and brother being pulled to the floor by Gardaí at a later incident, serious questions must be asked of the Garda’s de-escalation tactics and institutional bias. I will be discussing this campaign at Monday’s meeting.”
People Before Profit Cllr Adrienne Wallace added “It is no longer enough to not be racist, today we must all be anti-racist. The far-right are constantly trying to get the message out there that migrants or asylum seekers are the cause of the housing crisis. They want to scape-goat those with the least economic and political power which is a cowardly approach. The Housing Crisis is a result of government policy that protects landlord’s greed over people’s needs. It is a result of privatisation. As we face another possible economic crisis, we must rally our communities together. During the pandemic it was a mostly migrant and female workforce in our care homes and hospitals that kept people safe. We must respect that and fight for a future free from the scourge of the far-right and racism.”