Racism

The successful South Korean supergroup BTS has openly spoken out against racism towards people of Asian descent.

On their official Twitter they stated that "What is happening right now cannot be dissociated from our identity as Asians. It required considerable time for us to discuss this carefully and we contemplated deeply on how we should voice our message.

But what our voice must convey is clear.

We stand against racial discrimination:

We condemn violence.

You, I and we all have the right to be respected. We will stand together."

Buckingham Palace has said that it is considering appointing a diversity chief, acknowledging that "more needs to be done" when it comes to diversity.

“This is an issue which has been taken very seriously across the royal households. We have the policies, the procedures and programmes in place but we haven’t seen the progress we would like and accept more needs to be done, we can always improve," a Royal source said. “Therefore we are not afraid to look at new ways of approaching it. The work to do this has been under way for some time now and comes with the full support of the family.”

NBC News reports that Google advised employees in the US who complained about racism and sexism to take medical leave and undergo mental health counselling.

One former staff member, Benjamin Cruz, has said that they had complained to the company HR in 2019 after being told by a colleague that their skin was much darker than the co-worker expected. Google HR urged Cruz to take medical leave and tend to their mental health before moving to a new company role. Cruz went on medical leave and hoped to take the company up on its offer for a new position but was turned down from every role they applied for, so they were forced to quit.

Google denies wrongdoing and said it "rigorously" investigates complaints.

Following a decision made by students at Seaford Head School in East Sussex, United Kingdom, one of the houses will no longer be named after JK Rowling. The reason named is "her recent words about the trans community".

In addition, former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill has been removed as name-giver as "a figure who promoted racism".

The Hessian police chief Ullmann took office after his predecessor had to resign due to mistakes in dealing with the threatened affair and the right-wing network NSU 2.0.

After 100 days, he commented today that he and the Office for the Protection of the Constitution do not see a proper network in his police department either. Some of the violations are "stupidities" and other suspected cases would be investigated. The investigation is difficult, however.

According to a report, a chat with racist content has appeared in the ranks of the Berlin police. The authorities have started investigations.

It is said to be the internal chat of a service group of the Berlin police, in which more than 25 officers are said to have exchanged information. The report says that seven officers in particular regularly made clear racist statements, often in the form of alleged jokes. Colleagues had often commented on the statements with approval.

During the first presidential debate, moderator Chris Wallace asked President Donald Trump whether he would condemn white supremacists and ask them to stay down during ongoing demonstrations.

"Sure, I’m willing to, but I would say almost everything I see is from the left wing, not from the right wing. I’m willing to do anything. I want to see peace," Trump said.

"Who would you like me to condemn?" Trump asked when urged by Biden to condemn the groups and is prompted the far-right group "Proud Boys."

"Proud Boys — stand back and stand by. But I’ll tell you what. I’ll tell you what. Somebody’s got to do something about Antifa and the left because this is not a right wing problem," so the president.

According to the BBC, Proud Boys responded to the president's remarks in their Telegram group, writing: "Standing down and standing by sir."

The former press spokesman of the AfD Bundestag faction who has been on leave since spring, Christian Lüth, has been dismissed with immediate effect. Previously a video of him had been aired in a TV documentary where he speaks of "shooting" and "gassing" in connection with migrants.

Facebook has removed accounts and pages belonging to the far-right group "Patriot Prayer" and its founder Joey Gibson to remove "violent social militias" from its platform, so a company spokesperson.

"We have seen growing movements that, while not directly organizing violence, have celebrated violent acts, shown that they have weapons and suggest they will use them, or have individual followers with patterns of violent behavior," so Facebook in a blog post.

The Milwaukee Bucks boycotted Wednesday NBA playoff game five against Orlando Magic to protest the shooting of Jacob Blake. Blake was shot seven times by a police officer in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and is paralysed.

Bucks player George Hill told The Undefeated: "We're tired of the killings and the injustice."

Some NBA players didn't want to resume the season after Minneapolis police killed George Floyd. They decided to play, but with most players kneeling during the National Anthem and wearing Black Lives Matter T-shirts during pregame warmups.

A petition that "calls for a study on "Racial Profiling" to be carried out by federal and state police authorities" has reached the quorum of 50.000 needed signatures on the official petition platform of the German state. The threshold has been met five days before the official deadline on the 20.08.2020. Each public petition has four weeks from the moment it is published online to gather the required amount of signatures.

The Petitions Committee will now, as the quorum has been met, invite the petitioner to a public hearing about the petition to further present their concern directly to the members of the Committee.

Federal Minister of the Interior, Building and Community Horst Seehofer has previously blocked a study about racial profiling and racism inside the German police.

The Washington Redskins announced the franchise is officially going to change its name to the Washington Football Team, pending adoption of a new name. The decision to use 'Washington Football Team' for the 2020 season is to give the franchise some time to undertake an in-depth branding process to properly include player, alumni, fan, community, and sponsor input.

The Redskins name and logo will officially be retired by the start of the 2020 season.

According to information from SPIEGEL, Horst Seehofer maintains his blockade against an independent racism study within the police. He sees no structural racism problems that should be examined. The German Police University had submitted a project application to the Interior Ministry to investigate "right-wing extremist attitudes and actions", but the three-year project is now on hold.

Not only Seehofer, but the CSU is also opposed to a study recommended by the EU.

Lower Saxony's Minister of the Interior Pistorius now wants to commission a study in cooperation with other federal states.

After years of pressure from both Native American leaders and major retail brands, the Washington Redskins American football team announced it would retire "the Redskins name and logo upon completion of a review." The use of the term "redskin", considered a slur against Native Americans, has long been seen as controversial but it has taken major sponsors such FedEx, Pepsi and Nike to threaten to pull funding for the team to take action.

"Dan Snyder and Coach Rivera are working closely to develop a new name and design approach that will enhance the standing of our proud, tradition rich franchise and inspire sponsors, fans and community for the next 100 years," so the team's statement published on Twitter.

In his speech at Mount Rushmore president Donald Trump commented on the ongoing Black Lives Matter protests against police brutality and racism.

He stated that "This attack on our liberty, our magnificent liberty, must be stopped, and it will be stopped very quickly" adding comments against people with other political views alleging that "In our schools, our newsrooms, even our corporate boardrooms, there is a new far-left fascism that demands absolute allegiance" and claiming that "If you do not speak its language, perform its rituals, recite its mantras and follow its commandments, then you will be censored, banished, blacklisted, persecuted and punished".

He further addressed the Mount Rushmore National Memorial, stating: "This monument will never be desecrated. These heroes will never be defaced. Their legacy will never, ever be destroyed. Their achievements will never be forgotten. And Mount Rushmore will stand forever as an eternal tribute to our forefathers and to our freedom."

The BVG, Berlin's public transport company, has announced that it would rename the subway station in the city centre named "Mohrenstraße" to "Glinkastraße".

The term "mohr" has been coined throughout colonial times and has a racist background as it was used as a medieval term for people from Northern Africa.

Activists had previously started a petition to rename the station and name-giving street, and had temporarily put up signs naming it "George Floyd Street".

Adweek reported Wednesday that Washington Redskins' sponsors FedEx, Nike and PepsiCo received letters signed by more than 80 investment firms and shareholders asking the companies to sever ties with the team unless it changes its controversial name.

FedEx, which holds the naming rights for the NFL team stadium, told in a statement: "We have communicated to the team in Washington our request that they change the team name,".

Nike, on Thursday night, appeared to remove all Redskins gear from its online store but declined to comment about it.

After the riots in Stuttgart, a voice message with racist content by a police officer appeared on social networks. The official describes the events in Stuttgart city center and draws a direct parallel to refugee policy and migrants. The police have confirmed the authenticity and have initiated an internal investigation against a known police officer.

YouTube has banned six channels of known YouTubers including former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke and Richard Spender over hate speech. According to YouTube the channels linked to off-platform hate content and made claims of inferiority about a protected group. In an official statement, the company said that they "have terminated over 25,000 channels for violating our hate speech policies" since updating their "guidelines to better address supremacist content".

As the first Formula 1 race of 2020 approaches this weekend, the Mercedes-AMG team have announced a new car livery.

The organisation commits to "fighting racism and discrimination in all its forms" as their ranks feature only 3% of people identified from minority groups and 12% women.

In a press release, the team stated: "the Black Lives Matter movement has shone a searching light on how much we need new measures and actions in the fight against racism and all forms of discrimination".