I feel somewhat stuck between a rock and a hard place when addressing the protests around the world that have followed the tragic murder of George Floyd. I'm calling it that because that's what it is, end of story. The volume of protests for the Black Lives Matter movement has been fantastic and every single person who has gone out there with good intentions to show solidarity with a historically oppressed group should be praised.
Internally, I'm troubled by everything that has gone on. To me, it has acted as a turning point, a wake-up call, a slap in the face to the need for everyone to not just condemn racism, but to be anti-racist. I have not done enough to combat it on a personal level and I want to use these events to act as a springboard to making myself and those around me challenge our preconceptions and implicit assumptions. I don't think many do enough to not only call it out on a daily basis but recognise that we ourselves are complicit, and that lends to systematic racism. More on that later.
At the same time for me though, the developments of the last couple of weeks have illuminated how much racism I, as an ethnic minority, have actually experienced. I must stress that I never have and never will suffer from the systematic subjugation that black people experience on a daily basis. What I do know though, is that things I previously assumed to not have contributed to racist stereotypes, did propagate a racist view. It happens closer to home than we think.
Can we take any moral high ground when we engage in the behaviours ourselves? When the easiest way to stop jokes about terrorism is to have to laugh them off or actively participate in the self-depreciation of it? When I have to tell someone I've barely met my full origins, because saying the I'm from the UK would only lead to the follow up question of where I'm really from? It is embedded. I'm not sure if it's just me, but I don't actually feel like I can call people out on it especially if I don't know them, for fear of being portrayed as "too serious". There's a fine line between coming across as rude and patronising and trying to educate politely. It is a big problem.
Of course I could and should have done more to actively challenge this, but a boy amongst a class of immature 14 year-olds isn't going to be able to articulate that without the fear of alienation and unpopularity. I'd like to think I'd act differently now, but such is hindsight.
I see myself as quite open-minded, and individually it doesn't particularly bother me, but that is not the point. We cannot make the assumption that someone is happy to be asked where they're really from, or happy to laugh about jokes at their heritage, just because some people don't mind it. I may not bother, but the next 25 people of apparent minority may care. So we must learn that these kind of things shouldn't be normalised, for they feed into implicit views.
Nevertheless, the subtlety is on show as much as the clear signs of racism are. I have three cousins, aged eleven, ten and eight, who all have decidedly Western first names and surnames. Will they get asked where they're actually from on a regular basis? Will they have to play along with jokes surrounding their heritage? I doubt it. In that alone, there is something to think about about our attitudes.
What could I really have done to fight it if I was more self-aware? Report it? Like that would have changed anything. All it would have led to is detentions, suspensions of children who, in a developmental stage of their lives, need reconciliation rather than punishment. They would only come out of it not truly understanding what they've done wrong and a less confident person to boot. No-one would have benefited from it.
There is not enough of an active mechanism to report and educate people on racism in schools and at that age. Just look at the glorification of the British Empire in history syllabi and you will see how we want to hide it. It was established from minute one at school, "No-one should be racist". But there was not enough of an explanation of what that actually is.
Make no mistake about it, I am proud of my heritage. Everyone's history shapes them and I think it would be wrong of me to suggest that it is all negative. But I know of the racism suffered by my dad growing up, the racism and sexism that my mum has suffered trying to forge a career where old white males have stuck together to protect their careers. I dread to think what my grandparents experienced following their immigration to the UK because I would imagine it was far worse.
Likely they have suffered hugely from systematic racism. But I, who has been impacted less so, can only speak of verbal racism I've dealt with, which doesn't really scratch the surface in comparison to many members of the Black community who still encounter this on a daily basis.
The systematic racism I alluded to earlier is something we are all guilty of. I mentioned my unease at what has gone on and how it has been a stark reminder to me. It should not have had to be. I should not have needed people to embark on protests risking their health, safety and livelihoods to make me conscious of the struggle that black people experience every single day. Neither should you. But I'd wager that most of us have, and that is food for thought.
The best thing you can do to rectify that though, in my opinion, is to recognise it. If we all recognise that we are beneficiaries of a system that has been built on the foundations of oppressing Black people through brutality and slavery, we are accepting our complicity in it. Because, like it or not, we are complicit.
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| Credit: Jean Levac/Postmedia, via The National Post |
Of course, it then is important to combat it in those around you who are less self-aware. Addressing it through members of family and friends is of paramount importance. There is a need for us all to educate each other on things we may not have thought of, and that is OK. But we have to make sure we do teach each other what we know. Collective responsibility is key to helping us all become more self-aware.
On top of that, we do have to become activists to make our voices heard. I am glad that the protests in, first Minneapolis, and now the rest of the US have gathered traction and press coverage throughout the world. We can combat it on a personal and familial level, but enforcing legislative change stops the system returning to the slumber of racial inequality.
The media storm and protests have prompted some form of justice for George Floyd. That shows the power people have in their actions, and what difference we can do when we challenge the structural status quo. But it must not be an isolated incident. It should not get to this for us to protest against racial injustices. We must be proactive going forward.
There is a lot of debate about the nature of these protests, through the violence shown by some protesters, and the perceived hypocrisy of protesting whilst we deal with COVID-19. I want to discuss the latter first, because I think it is evidence of a moral dilemma in which you cannot win.
Most sensible people want to both protest for the Black Lives Matter movement and obey lockdown rules to avoid the spread of COVID-19. But obviously the two are mutually exclusive, unless you protest whilst following social distancing guidelines, which is not very practical given the large numbers of protesters.
I am troubled by the furore surrounding the issue. I don't think anyone should be admonished for choosing either option. Both are supporting admirable causes and are going to help people or systematic change. There seems an unfortunate polarised nature between the two though, as if you cannot support one without not recognising the importance of the other. That is unfair - I think many recognise the importance of both but have had to make the individual conscious decision on what is more pressing currently.
There is further unhappiness from many about the violent nature of the protests, both in the USA and UK. Those in the US have led to many incidents of lawlessness, to the dismay of some activists but to the happiness of others. What it has also shown is the many incidents of police brutality that will exist when the state is under threat. The number of protesters I have seen harmed by the police on social media in the last week or so is beyond belief. Of course we must remember that videos will not always give us a true picture of the events, and in some instances they may have been attacked by protesters, but it still paints a worrying dystopian picture of the state against the people.
They have enforced change though. The Minneapolis City Council has only on Sunday voted to dismantle the police department in the city and create a citizen-based justice system, partly as a result of the police brutality shown to many and perhaps the systematic problems illustrated by the murder of George Floyd. In itself this illustrates what protests can create. But I also worry that it shows white people and the majority have to be affected for any change to be enforced. Whose hands is the power really in when we talk about ending systematic racism and injustice?
It has been rife in the UK too. Violent protests have swept through London, with a minority of protesters defacing statues, such as one of Churchill. Those angered by that would do well to look past the "he won us the war" narrative, and research his racist views. Should we glorify Stalin because he defeated Hitler, when he potentially had up to 20 million killed? I thought not.
The statue of George Colston, a slave-owner who killed and transported slaves in the 17th century, that has been ripped down by protesters in Bristol further emphasises the need of protesters enforcing change. It is fine to say that it should have been done through democratic means, but the statue had caused controversy before, and I truly doubt whether democracy would have been followed through.
I am proud that people are trying to make a proper difference in the world. If we need to make a difference, we must do it through challenging the status quo and the structural inequality that plagues our society. I'm not sure you can argue any different.
What is imperative though, is that we don't let this die down. I can think of countless occasions when human rights violations hit the media and make social media explode with rage, only for this to die down in the following weeks and months. Let us not forget that there are examples of racism currently occuring all around the world, against many different forms of minority groups. We have to champion their rights, from the Uyghur Muslims oppressed in China to the Black communities in America and beyond, this is a worldwide problem. It is time to stand up and fight it.
I want to finish with a quote which should be chucked in the face of anyone who is not supporting the activism of the Black Lives Matter movement. Funnily enough, there seems to be no consensus on who's quote it is, but it is poignant.
"When you are accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression." If you don't want things to change, then I am afraid you are symbolic of the systematic problem we face around the world. It is time we all become anti-racist, each and every day.
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