Scott Morrison says violence is not the answer: Indigenous Australians have told us what is

George Floyd’s tragic death at the hands of Minneapolis police has drawn significant attention to police brutality against black people in America. Hashtags such as #Ican’tbreathe and #BlackLivesMatter have proliferated Australian social media feeds. As an Australian who is a Fellow at Law for Black Lives in the US and co-author of the Say Her Name report, which highlights police brutality against black women and girls in America, I have received numerous calls from Australian friends and colleagues asking what they can do about the situation.

The answer is in our own backyard.

As Indigenous Australians have been quick to point out, police brutality is sadly not unique to the US. In 2015, David Dungay jnr, a 25-year-old Dunghutti man, died in circumstances his family have described as "strikingly similar" to Floyd. Dungay spoke the same words as Floyd – "I can’t breathe" – 12 times before losing consciousness and dying while being restrained by five prison guards in Long Bay jail hospital. Dungay’s family sent a message of solidarity to protesters in America, saying "we feel their pain and stand with them".

There are undoubtedly differences between the police brutality experienced by black communities in America and Indigenous communities in Australia, owing to Indigenous peoples’ unique status as original inhabitants and the history of colonisation, demographics, and America’s gun culture, among other things. Nonetheless, as journalist and Darumbal/South Sea woman Amy McGuire recently said, "our struggles are entwined and united".

What, then, can the American experience teach us about the work we need to do in our own backyard?

In 1967, Martin Luther King jnr famously said "a riot is the language of the unheard". As an advocate of nonviolent action, King condemned the riots in America, while noting they were the direct consequence of America’s failure to hear the plight of black Americans, to hear that promises of freedom and justice had not been met. King concluded: "And so in a real sense our nation’s summers of riots are caused by our nation’s winters of delay. And as long as America postpones justice, we stand in the position of having these recurrences of violence and riots over and over again."

King’s words resonate as America grapples with mass protests sparked by Mr Floyd’s murder, some of which have become violent.

Australia has not experienced violence similar to that seen in America – and it is extremely unlikely to do so. Nonetheless, King’s message contains an important lesson: Indigenous voices must be heard in order to achieve the reconciliation we strive for.