For all the globally-impacting developments in the past 12 months, anti-racism campaigning has no doubt been the most positive. Whilst progress has been made, manifestations of a systematically racist society still remain as apparent as ever and the attention paid in the summer is starting to look like, as lots of socio-political human rights issues end up becoming, a vehicle for many to make themselves feel better about their involvement in systemic racism.
That is perhaps a cynical way to look at things, but it is shaped by both what I have personally experienced in the past few months, and our attitudes to current affairs. These are obviously only what I gleam, one perspective in a world full of opinions, but I feel that from how directly it has affected myself and those around me, and will continue to affect many others, it is one that must be highlighted if we are to truly understand the problem we proclaimed to fight back in the summer.
It has been four and a half months since George Floyd's murder, which sparked worldwide anger and protests at the injustice of police brutality and a recognition of the deep-rooted nature of racism in our societies. We said it was the final straw. Racism had to be eradicated, by any means necessary. And it had to be now.
Being brutally honest, it should not have taken the lives of many innocent black men and women to spark this anger. George Floyd is just one of many, but it is his name that will inevitably go down in history, for it was Derek Chauvin's repugnant murder of him that made the world sit up and take notice. The world was united behind a common, albeit frighteningly vague, goal.
It was the murder that made everyone question their own complicity in fostering a world where being born white is an undeniable advantage. Many had long denied our own involvement by stating they are "not racist", but could this be the moment they changed their lives to try and understand that we are all somewhat at fault?
The media sensed an opportunity. Suddenly the papers were filled with experiences of racism, examples of microaggressions, extensive analysis of the protests. You name it, it was there. There was finally widespread exposure to an issue that is more deeply embedded than most of us care to admit.
Likewise, social media exploded. The uncontrolled, disobedient younger sibling of the mainstream press used its voice in a way it had rarely demonstrated before; for activism. People shared informative posts: examples of culture with racist connotations, petitions to lobby governments, links to donate to families of victims of racism, resources to read up about racism. Even if its argumentative internal debates remained, social media helped to amplify the issue, and for some, even persuade them of racism's deep-seated influence on our society.
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| Credit: theasianangle.com |
The media moved on, for racism no longer sold papers or attracted viewers. Social media slipped back into its usual demise of vitriol, with its meaningful and informative debates becoming baseless arguments. The landscape hadn't changed, but the attention it got had.
It is in itself deeply unsettling that it can take under six months for people to go from caring deeply about an issue to no longer peddling a positive agenda. Social media isn't the best barometer, but the performative activism shown by the majority was captured perfectly by the black square trend that engulfed Instagram for a day in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Performative activism is essentially a term used to describe activism done only in aid of one's own appearance, rather than change anything. The black square, originally proposed by the music industry as a blackout of tour dates and posts to highlight solidarity with black people, was hijacked by social media. People posted a black square as a stand against racism, as a signal to show that this must stop.
But as I alluded to at the start, has this actually changed anything? Have our attitudes changed? Posting a black square seems to me nothing more than an empty gesture designed at making people feel better about their supposed "helplessness" at the racism enveloping our society. Whilst resources were shared as well, not enough of these were followed up on - did people check the progress of the petitions they blindly signed in the summer?
In the UK, we have a particularly ignorant conception of racism, as a collective. We will deny its existences, despite our racial injustices being some of the worst in history, despite our foundations being built upon this cruelty, despite the cold, hard facts that point to structural, racial inequality in the country today. Many choose to look at all that and think 'I'm going to vote someone who called Muslim women "letterboxes" into power because he will help us keep immigrants out.'
Minorities are perceived with disdain. There is no clearer example of this than the coronavirus pandemic. The night before Eid, the government placed large parts of the country and significant Muslim populations no less, under lockdown restrictions at the click of their fingers. Similarly, they have imposed a lockdown throughout November on the country to stem rising rates of infection, hampering Diwali celebrations for millions of Hindus across the country. Was this because they recognise we need to save lives? I doubt it, the government have proved they care little about that. In fact, the discourse has been focused on "saving Christmas".
And that is exactly what they've done, permitting a five-day amnesty on household mixing over the Christmas period. I am fervently in support of a lockdown, but not a lockdown that is being done to satisfy predominantly white communities at the expense of minorities. We have no problem for Hindus or Muslims to be in lockdown when they have celebratory holidays, but many will refuse to do it for Christmas.
Just take a second to comprehend how hypocritical it is. This is quite frankly the kind of thing that we said we were going to try and become aware of six months ago! I have family members who would have celebrated Diwali as many do Christmas, yet they have adapted to the lockdown. To see social media and the tabloids covered with people saying "I'm not locking down for Christmas, it's family time", fills me with disbelief and resentment.
The Christmas economy is big no doubt, but it is almost as if we are putting people at risk and accepting deaths for a few days celebration at Christmas. Would the majority-white population do that for Diwali? For Eid? Yeah, you know the answer too.
It is a perfect illustration of an example of systemic racism that you have to think more critically about. And while it continues, so will the racism. The racism that meant a bloke spat at me walking down the street a few weeks back, the racism that meant my mum has been repeatedly misgendered in media outlets, the racism that affects so many worldwide.
I am all too aware that my experience is less severe than many whose structural injustices are far greater, and I must keep fighting every day to reverse racist structures, both in society and internally in my views. In similar vein, I must keep championing feminism and the LGBTQ+ movement when the news falls silent. But being someone from a minority background, whilst that does not exempt me from scrutiny, has given me some experience of what it is like to be a victim of implicit racism, and my experiences seem to have only heightened in the past few months. So whilst this is still occurring and everyday activism has become negligible, all of the activism a few months ago feels incredibly hollow.
What strikes me most is that everyone feels as though they can't change anything. From a position of white privilege, it perhaps feels that all you can do is proclaim you are not racist and be activist when it suits you. In fact, it is the opposite.
Perhaps it feels exhausting to have to keep learning and educating yourself every day, to keep challenging your views and changing your judgements to accept your misgivings. But it is a damn lot less exhausting than missing out on a job, facing abuse or even in the extreme, losing loved ones because of your skin colour.
Yes, some things have changed. The protests that followed have elicited some faint legal change, and likewise I feel that racism is being talked about more and more. In personal and professional scenarios, I have had sensible conversations with sensible people who are doing their utmost to try and become more aware, and to make a profound change to their lives and deep-seated prejudices.
Yet, it is hard to take that seriously when it was made into a trend and has been left at that. Performative activism trivialises the issue, because it buys into the idea that you must tell people you care for it to matter. Posting some content for a couple of weeks on Instagram whilst it is in the spotlight is a bit like videoing yourself giving to the homeless. The intent might be there, but the underlying aim is to improve your self-image. We tread a dangerous path if we are to make basic human rights issues a temporary, superficial craze akin to clothing styles and technology.
A harsh summation? Possibly. But whilst our trends die down and our activism wanes, perhaps a harsh reminder is what those with white privilege need.
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