Former President of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama says the recent attacks on Blacks in the United States of America should be an awakening for Ghanaians.
According to him, like the United States, Ghanaian civilians have always been attacked by Security Personnel in the country for no reason; an action he believes needs total condemnation.
He said “This new awakening also applies to unwarranted use of violence against civilians here at home (Ghana); and to our own prejudicial treatment of some Ghanaians and the socially disadvantaged”.
Speaking on the death of George Floyd, he condemned the level of racism and the injustices in America.
He reminded Ghanaians that “We must understand that the threats and dangers are as real for Ghanaians and other Africans in America as they are for African Americans. We cannot look away, and we cannot be silent”.
Adding that “Moments such as this call for solidarity. The systemic prejudices and injustices faced by Black people in America is based on racism – it makes no distinction on the basis of migration history, national origin, social class or educational attainment. They are concerned, solely, with the color of your skin”.
READ HIS FULL STATEMENT HERE
Recent events in America have brightened the moral spotlight on the systemic prejudice and danger that Black people there experience solely because of the colour of their skin.
The killing of George Floyd is the latest in a centuries-long series of moral outrages that are now more visible because they are being documented on film and through social media.
I condemn these injustices, in all their many forms.
Moments such as this call for solidarity. The systemic prejudices and injustices faced by Black people in America is based on racism – it makes no distinction on the basis of migration history, national origin, social class or educational attainment. They are concerned, solely, with the color of your skin.
That is because the issue at hand is not “respectability”, it is racism.
We must understand that the threats and dangers are as real for Ghanaians and other Africans in America as they are for African Americans. We cannot look away, and we cannot be silent.
This new awakening also applies to unwarranted use of violence against civilians here at home (Ghana); and to our own prejudicial treatment of some Ghanaians and the socially disadvantaged.
