A New Zealand chapter of a climate organization inspired by teen activist Greta Thunberg disbanded after it found itself to be “racist” and a “white-dominated space.”
What organization? School Strike 4 Climate is a youth movement, mostly comprised of students, that protests in favor of action that would help fight climate change issues. The School Strike New Zealand was behind student strikes in New Zealand in 2019, according to the Washington Post. The chapter describes itself as “the New Zealand movement of Greta Thunberg’s strikes in Europe.”
The announcement: The Auckland chapter of the organization, School Strike 4 Climate Auckland, issued a statement on Facebook this week, explaining that it is disbanding over concerns that it “has been a racist, white-dominated space.”
They claim the disbandment “is well overdue.”
The decision to disband came “under the suggestion and guidance of the BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Colour) members of our group, as well as individual BIPOC activists and organisations,” the group wrote, adding that it will no longer hold climate change protests and that “going forward, we will only be using our social media to uplift BIPOC-led climate justice spaces in Auckland.”
“BIPOC communities are disproportionately affected by climate change, so the fight for climate justice should be led by their voices and needs, not Pākehā ones,” the statement continued, referring to white New Zealanders.
“We are disbanding because, since 2019, SS4C AKL (as well as the wider national group, though we can’t speak on their behalf) has been a racist, white-dominated space. SS4C AKL has avoided, ignored, and tokenised BIPOC voices and demands, especially those of Pasifika and Māori individuals in the climate activism space. As well as this, the responsibility and urgent need to decolonise the organisation has been put off for far too long. SS4C also delayed paying financial reparations for the work BIPOC groups/individuals within and alongside the group have done for this organisation in the past.”
The group also apologized.
“We apologise for the hurt, burnout, and trauma caused to many BIPOC individuals, including current and past members, as well as BIPOC-led groups. We also apologise for the further trauma caused by our slow action to take responsibility. We recognise that this apology can never be enough to make up for our actions on top of years of systemic and systematic oppression, racism, and the silencing of those who are the most affected by climate change. This apology is just one of our steps in taking accountability for our actions,” they wrote.
“We acknowledge that our attitude has been racist and dismissive of the voices that have rightly spoken out against us and we apologise deeply for the pain we have caused. In saying this, we also need to acknowledge that racism is a big problem within the SS4C NZ team as well, but that we have made this decision independently from them.”
You can read the full statement here:
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