Thousands of Americans marked the 155th anniversary of "Juneteenth" (English name formed by the combination of the word "June" and 19) on Friday, the date of the abolition of slavery, amid racial tensions affecting the country after the death of George Floyd, according to AFP.

"I am a woman of color, I have lived in this country for 20 years and I am here to say that the lives of blacks matter, those of my children and brothers, to be able to live in a safe country," he told AFP  , Tabatha Bernard, 38, originally from Trinidad and Tobago, in the huge New York procession.

 Demonstrations on the occasion of "Juneteenth", the day in 1865 when the last slaves were released in Galveston, Texas, were organized in the four corners of the country.

 In Washington, protesters who denounced "racism, oppression and police violence" first gathered around the Martin Luther King Memorial at the call of professional players from local basketball clubs.

Near the White House, the event was festive in the already well-known meeting place called "Black Lives Matter Plaza".  Hundreds of people danced to the sounds of Go-go Music before marching through the streets of the center of the federal capital.

 "We will not be able to eliminate all racist police officers," said Joshua Hager, 29, but "we want most of them fired and held accountable."

 His partner, Yamina BenKreira, expressed the wish that the history of African Americans be better taught so that young people "become aware" of these discriminations.

 In recent weeks, calls for the dismantling of monuments in memory of Confederate soldiers present throughout the south of the country have multiplied.

 At the root of this movement is the debate over racism in America, rekindled by the death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old African-American who suffocated under the knee of a white police officer during his arrest in late May in Minneapolis.

In Copenhagen, on the statue of the Little Mermaid, created based on the tale of Hans Christian Andersen, the inscription "Racist Fish" appeared.

 “We consider this a vandalism and begin an investigation,” the Copenhagen police said.

 Over the past months, Black Lives Matter has been fighting monuments of historical figures related to racist oppression.

 “It’s hard for me to understand what’s racist in the Little Mermaid tale,” says Ane Groom-Schwensen, researcher at the Hans Christian Andersen Center at the University of Southern Denmark.

 The Little Mermaid Statue of Edward Eriksen, created in 1913, was repeatedly subjected to vandalism. In 1964 and 1998, her head was cut off, after which another attempt was made in 1990.

 Activists often use the monument to express their position. So in January 2020, the inscription “Free Hong Kong” appeared on the statue in support of protesters in Hong Kong.

 About how the Black Lives Matter movement is gaining momentum and why the behavior of looters can be understood.