A statue of a southern general who defended slavery during the US Civil War was thrown down and set on fire by protesters in the Washington on Friday.
Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg (Photo: AFP)
Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg said Saturday the Black Lives Matter protests showed society had reached a “tipping point” at which injustices are finally addressed.
“It feels like we have passed some kind of social tipping point where people are starting to realise that we cannot keep looking away from these things,” the 17-year-old said in an interview with the BBC.
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“We cannot keep sweeping these things under the carpet, these injustices.”
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Thunberg’s interview aired as global capitals braced for another weekend of anti-racism protests in the wake of the death at the hands of a white policeman of the unarmed African American George Floyd.
British protesters have toppled the statue of a 17th century slave trader and the Church of England and the Bank of England have expressed remorse for profiting from the sale of Africans to the Americas.
A statue of a southern general who defended slavery during the US Civil War was thrown down and set on fire by protesters in the Washington on Friday.
Thunberg said “people are starting to find their voice, to sort of understand that they can actually have an impact”.
She also described being stunned by the depth of US poverty she discovered while travelling with her father in an electric car they borrowed from the former California governor and actor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
“It was very shocking to hear people talk about that they can’t afford to put food on the table,” she said.
More protests were scheduled for Saturday in London and the Scottish capital Edinburgh.
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