ASLM supports Black Lives Matter
“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter” Martin Luther King Jr (paraphrased)
The Australasian Society of Lifestyle Medicine (ASLM) supports the call for racial justice and social equality for black, indigenous and people of colour in Australia, New Zealand and across the globe.
Two recent events, one in the USA and the other in Australia, have led to ASLM issuing this statement. One was the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, mirroring Australia’s ongoing crisis of Aboriginal deaths in custody, and the other involves the actions of mining giant Rio Tinto that resulted in the desecration and destruction of a known Aboriginal sacred site estimated to be at least 46,000 years old.
There have been more than 430 indigenous deaths in custody since the 1991 Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, which highlights the extent of discrimination and disadvantage still experienced by our first peoples. The 2020 Closing the Gap report which aims to monitor key metrics such as life expectancy, child mortality, education, literacy and employment, also confirms that progress has been slow and mixed.
The Rio Tinto destruction of the Aboriginal sacred site was carried out in spite of Rio Tinto’s own Reconciliation Action Plan that purports to recognise the connection that indigenous people have with the land. Yet Rio Tinto has rationalised their destruction of the sacred site by saying they did not know that their demolition of the ancient caves would cause distress.
Injustice, discrimination and inequity are determinants of health which inflame a society and bring with them a range of acute and chronic health problems that obstruct the ability of those affected to enjoy the opportunity to live a full and meaningful life.
We affirm the human rights and dignity of all people and support the calls for systemic and societal change so that the inequities and abuses experienced by black, indigenous and people of colour are eradicated.
More context
How does this relate to health?
Health is a product of its social and environmental determinants, and prominent amongst these are inequity, discrimination and injustice. Systemic injustice in particular, is a major health issue with far reaching effects and therefore of concern to all health professionals. There is nothing more important to the future of a nation’s health than its social health.
Don’t all lives matter?
Yes, if all lives were all being valued the same by our society, there would be no Black Lives Matter movement. It’s widely acknowledged that little has improved since the 1991 Royal Commission. In fact since then the rate of incarceration has increased 12 times for indigenous men and 21 times for indigenous women compared to their non-indigenous counterparts, which in turn translates into more deaths in custody.
Yes, if all lives were all being valued the same by our society, there would be no Black Lives Matter movement. It’s widely acknowledged that little has improved since the 1991 Royal Commission. In fact since then the rate of incarceration has increased 12 times for indigenous men and 21 times for indigenous women compared to their non-indigenous counterparts, which in turn translates into more deaths in custody.
This is an American issue. Don’t bring it here.
Unfortunately, this view and others like it have been expressed by some tone-deaf politicians. It’s a colonisation and racial inequality problem which exists in many societies around the world, including ours, which is why the protests have spread so quickly around the world. The protests in Australia and New Zealand have demonstrated the extent of dissatisfaction with the injustice that already exists here. On a more positive note, the scale of the local protests demonstrates that change is possible because more and more people are demanding it.
I’m not racist and I’m not causing the problem.
We are all part of the problem and silence or lack of effective action allows the problem to continue. We didn’t personally create systemic racism, but many of us benefit from a race privilege that is automatic and we have the power to change that. For example, it’s only 58 years since Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people first got the vote – that’s not a very long time when it comes to changing colonial attitudes. We’ve taken some good steps forward but now as a society, we need to complete the journey. Equal opportunity and equal health are the goal.
What about the risk of Covid-19 transmission at marches?
It’s difficult to balance the right to protest vs the need to contain Covid-19. The democratic right to freedom of assembly for peaceful protest can only be limited “in the interests of national security or public safety, public order, or the protection of public health” (in other words, in times exactly like Covid-19) but the limitations must be provided for in legislation, necessary and proportional to the need. Governments can also take measures that ‘derogate’ or reduce this democratic right during officially proclaimed “public emergencies which threaten the life of the nation” but only to the extent strictly required by the exigencies of the situation. The message is clearly one of proportionality.
We cannot condone ignoring the advice of the Chief Medical Officer regarding the size of gatherings during the Covid-19 response. The risk of transmission events is too high. However it’s clear from the scale of the protests and the extent of the anger being expressed at successive governments for what is seen as lack of progress, lack of action, or worse, failing to adequately acknowledge the problem, that the marches are predictable and seemingly unavoidable in response. We therefore expect government, police and march organisers to work together to minimise the risk to public health these events represent and to ensure non-violence on all sides.
