Black Lives Matter!
The Bhutanese Community of Central Ohio (BCCO) stands in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement and calls the Bhutanese Nepali community, especially those in Central Ohio, to action.
For too long, we have lived within a system that perpetuates institutional and direct violence against Black people. We reject anti-Black violence, and demand justice for Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade, George Floyd, Julius Tate, Jr., Henry Green and for all lives lost to police brutality and systemic racism.
The history of the United States is a history of immigration, but also of inequality. In a country founded on equality for all, Black Americans have been systematically defined and oppressed as racial unequals. The Black community’s sacrifices and continued fight for equal treatment have paved the way for many opportunities and rights that Asian Americans and communities of color enjoy today. We must all speak out against this unjust system that creates hierarchies among people of color to continually pit us against each other.
In the midst of a global health pandemic, racialized inequality has only increased - corporations have been given billions of dollars while millions of Americans are not able to have their basic health care and economic needs met.
We call on governments to invest funds in basic needs like quality housing and education, financial and economic support, climate justice, healthcare for all, and mental health support.
At this defining moment in history, to do nothing is to participate in an ecosystem of complicity that allows our individual privilege as non-Black people of color to be weaponized for the further oppression of Black Americans.
The Bhutanese Community of Central Ohio commits to:
BCCO invites you to join us in this global movement against violence and systemic racism towards the Black community. There is a role for each of us to play, what will be your role?
The Bhutanese Community of Central Ohio (BCCO) stands in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement and calls the Bhutanese Nepali community, especially those in Central Ohio, to action.
For too long, we have lived within a system that perpetuates institutional and direct violence against Black people. We reject anti-Black violence, and demand justice for Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade, George Floyd, Julius Tate, Jr., Henry Green and for all lives lost to police brutality and systemic racism.
The history of the United States is a history of immigration, but also of inequality. In a country founded on equality for all, Black Americans have been systematically defined and oppressed as racial unequals. The Black community’s sacrifices and continued fight for equal treatment have paved the way for many opportunities and rights that Asian Americans and communities of color enjoy today. We must all speak out against this unjust system that creates hierarchies among people of color to continually pit us against each other.
In the midst of a global health pandemic, racialized inequality has only increased - corporations have been given billions of dollars while millions of Americans are not able to have their basic health care and economic needs met.
We call on governments to invest funds in basic needs like quality housing and education, financial and economic support, climate justice, healthcare for all, and mental health support.
At this defining moment in history, to do nothing is to participate in an ecosystem of complicity that allows our individual privilege as non-Black people of color to be weaponized for the further oppression of Black Americans.
The Bhutanese Community of Central Ohio commits to:
- Educating ourselves and understanding race relations in the United States.
- Examining our own biases and privileges as non-Black people of color.
- Standing in solidarity with Black communities to demand justice by advocating for their recommendations and solutions.
- Sharing information among our community groups and have the courage and compassion to talk about BLACK LIVES MATTER principles with our children.
- Engaging with immigrant groups and other communities of color to dismantle systematic injustice against the Black community- -- to volunteer, donate, support! A system that devalues the lives of Black Americans can never truly value the lives of Asian Americans, or any other community of color. Such a system can never truly value any human life.
- Demanding governments invest in communities by increasing funding for housing, education, healthcare, and other supports while also demanding the reforming and re-allocation of police budgets to increase investments in the needed education, health care and social services which will make our communities stronger and safer.
BCCO invites you to join us in this global movement against violence and systemic racism towards the Black community. There is a role for each of us to play, what will be your role?
Photos: Gary Snyder