SELF-CANCELLING

New Zealand Climate Strike Group Disbands Itself for Being ‘Racist’

The Auckland chapter of Greta Thunberg’s School Strike 4 Climate movement shut itself down for being a “racist, white-dominated space.”

A New Zealand branch of Greta Thunberg’s School Strike 4 Climate movement has disbanded after agreeing with critics who accused it of being racist. The SS4C Auckland chapter attracted up to 80,000 marchers onto the streets at the peak of the school strike protests in 2019, according to the Washington Post. But it announced on Facebook that it was closing itself down because it “has been a racist, white-dominated space” that “avoided, ignored, and tokenised BIPOC voices and demands,” especially of the Pacific Islanders and Maoris who are disproportionately affected by climate change. Many commenters on the Facebook post questioned the move. “This is identity politics gone mad,” one Auckland woman wrote. “Capitalism is eating the world and you are stopping!”