- Sputnik International
World
Get the latest news from around the world, live coverage, off-beat stories, features and analysis.

Bill Gates Vows to 'Learn More About Systemic Racism' as George Floyd Protests Continue

© AP Photo / Jonathan Gibbons Microsoft founder and Co- chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Bill Gates is pictured at the Reaching The Last Mile forum on Nov. 19, 2019, at the Louvre in Abu Dhabi
 Microsoft founder and Co- chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Bill Gates is pictured at the Reaching The Last Mile forum on Nov. 19, 2019, at the Louvre in Abu Dhabi - Sputnik International
Subscribe
The international human rights movement Black Lives Matters, which began in 2013, returned to global headlines in May 2020, following the death of African American man Georg Floyd at the hands of a white police officer.

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has vowed to "learn more about systemic racism", adding that black lives matter, in remarks that come amid ongoing international protests sparked by the 25 May killing of black American man George Floyd by a white Minenapolis policeman.

In a series of tweets on Tuesday, Gates mentioned "the horrifying killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and far too many other Black people", which "are shining a light on the brutal injustices that Black people experience every day in policing, criminal justice, education, health care, housing, the workplace, and all other areas of their lives".

The billionaire underscored that he is committed to […] "learning more" about […] "what I can do with my actions and words to help create a more equal and just future".

Gates was referring to Black Lives Matters, the international human rights movement that grabbed global headlines after Floyd’s death on 25 May.

African American man Ahmaud Arbery, 25, was jogging in his neighbourhood in Georgia on 23 February, when he was killed in a shooting after being chased by former police officer, Gregory McMichael and his son, both of whom were white.

© REUTERS / Jonathan ErnstPolice officers look on as a car burns in the back as protesters continue to rally against the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, near the White House, in Washington, U.S., May 30, 2020.
Bill Gates Vows to 'Learn More About Systemic Racism' as George Floyd Protests Continue - Sputnik International
Police officers look on as a car burns in the back as protesters continue to rally against the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, near the White House, in Washington, U.S., May 30, 2020.

The two were charged in May with felony murder and aggravated assault after a police report said that McMichael mistook unarmed Arbery for a suspect in a spate of neighbourhood break-ins.

Health worker Breonna Taylor was shot and killed by police who entered her home in Louisville, Kentucky without warning on 13 March, in what they said was part of a drug-related investigation. No narcotics were discovered inside the property.

Gates’ remarks come as the George Floyd protests show no sign of abating in the US and beyond, two weeks after the death of the 46-year-old, who died after white officer Derek Chauvin, held his knee on Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes. A video later showed the African American man saying he could not breathe.

Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала