Webinar: Eliminating Racial Discrimination

Faith-based solutions calling for the eradication of racial discrimination and the levelling up of access to quality education, health services and housing were all high on the agenda during KAICIID’s latest webinar, “A Faith-based Perspective on Human Rights and Racial Justice.”

A panel of distinguished guests, including religious experts and academics, discussed the importance of faith in upholding global human rights standards for all and the role played by religious institutions in combatting racial discrimination. Speakers also offered advice and guidance on how faith-based dialogue conducted by interreligious organizations could help enhance collaboration between different faith groups in providing solutions to injustice.

The last twelve months have seen tensions between ordinary citizens, anti-racism activists and law enforcement reach a boiling point. The May 2020 killing of an unarmed black man, George Floyd, by a white police officer in Minneapolis, has led to claims of a pattern of police brutality which characterised years of racial injustice in law enforcement, panelists said. Justice and equality campaigners have also seen the global COVID-19 pandemic expose some glaring inequalities in black and other minority communities.

Floyd’s death followed a number of black deaths at the hands of police officers, including Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Tamir Rice and Breonna Taylor. Floyd’s death sparked Black Lives Matter protests in 75 cities across the U.S. and elsewhere, including London, Paris and Berlin.