The Rise of Systemic Racism in Europe
Reach Society believes that the 21st century will be known as the century when the evil of systemic racism ends.
The first quarter of this year saw the outbreak of the novel Coronavirus in China which spread to virtually every corner of the globe. While people were getting infected and sadly dying from the Covid-19 virus, the whole world witnessed the heartless killing of George Floyd, a Black man, by a group of policemen in Minneapolis, USA. It took almost 9 minutes for these uncaring officers to take the life of another unarmed African American.
In the 1960s the African American author, James Baldwin, described America’s treatment of its Black citizens as “morally monstrous.” And in May 2020 the killing of George Floyd is further evidence that America is still a morally monstrous country. And this is just one more example of systemic racism at work.
In examining systemic racism in countries in the West it is important to be aware that it was launched in 1452. In that year Pope Nicholas 5th issued a Papal Bull that gave permission to Portugal to treat all people they encountered in new lands, who were not Roman Catholic, as less than human, take their possessions and enslave them.
This 1452 Papal Bull was an act of pure evil that gave permission to the first European nation to treat everyone whose faith was not Roman Catholic as property. As explorers from Spain vied with those from Portugal to discover new lands, the Popes who followed Nicholas 5th also gave permission to the Spanish to treat anyone they encountered who were non-Catholics or Christians as less than human, take their possessions and enslave them.
Read the full Reach Society’s article on BHM magazine’s website.
