The United States was born as a protest movement against unfairness and want of representation. The country has renewed its ideal of becoming a better society ever since then – by every means from democratic debate through to civil war – without actually falling apart.

Australians have been alarmed by the egregious police brutality against a black man, George Floyd and the weeks of anger which have followed. The anti-racist protests have become a worldwide movement, though those who demonstrated in Australian cities still under COVID-19 restrictions this long weekend did so by putting the entire community at risk from resurgent infection.