Systematic Racism is not just an “American problem.”

The murder of George Floyd has sent shockwaves across the US and the globe. The thought that a police officer- in a position of such trust and authority- could abuse their position and harm a civilian is deeply alarming. However, while the UK are outraged and abhorred by the countless victims of police brutality in America, we cannot ignore the problems in our own country.

As residents in a secluded rural town, we are often unaware of the racism that occurs daily. I know that I, myself, am in a position of privilege. I never have to worry about the colour of my skin and how that will disproportionately affect me amongst others, yet this is sadly the reality for many. No empathy I feel can ever amount to the fear and upset black people must feel right now. When many people ask “why are they protesting here when George Floyd was killed in America?” We need to recognise our failures regarding systematic racism in Britain. The UK historically is at the epicentre of racial exploitation and I will do my best to provide a short and succinct overview yet please be aware that our colonial history is far more expansive than what I will go on to describe.

We are often led to believe that the “Great British Empire” is one of nation’s greatest accomplishments however, it is fraught with corruption and suffering. In 1922 Britain owned and controlled one fifth of the world’s population and one quarter of the world’s total land area. Much of this control was not gained from peaceful treaties but rather exploitation, torture, slavery, and the numerous deaths of indigenous people. Britain owned a number of concentration camps in its colonised areas. The Mau Mau uprising occurred in the British Kenya Colony from 1920 to 1963, during which members of the Kikuyu tribe were detained in concentration camps and systematically raped, tortured and abused. This also took place in South Africa in WW2 where 107,000 Boer people, mostly women and children, were detained in concentration camps 27,929 of those people died including an unknown number of black Africans. It also often forgotten that Winston Churchill, who is often praised as a “War Hero,” caused between 12 and 29 million to Indians to die of starvation. When India was under the control of the British Empire millions of tons of wheat was sent out and into Britain. In Bengal, 1943, 4 million Bengalis starved to death after Churchill diverted their food supplies to British soldiers. When Churchill spoke about these famines he said “I hate Indians. They are beastly people with a beastly religion. The famine was their own fault for breeding like rabbits.”

With the deeply entrenched roots our country has in racism and exploitation it should come as no surprise that institutional racism continues today.

 Right now, our country is dependent on BAME key workers during the pandemic. The disparity in death rates between white people and minority ethnic people is utterly shocking. Whilst many of us are at home, BAME workers are on the front lines risking their lives to keep the country functioning.

Belly Mujina lost her life due to corona virus leaving her young daughter behind. At her job as a rail worker she was spat at and died in hospital days after. The man responsible for the offence has not been held accountable. This just makes me wonder if she were white would justice have been sought more eagerly?

This has sadly turned out to be true. In a similar situation, a Glaswegian man was arrested after spitting at a white police officer after the man joked that he had corona virus. This begs the question: why is it that a black woman is subject to a fatal attack and the perpetrator runs free, yet the white police officer’s attacker is arrested?  It seems that the government regards BAME workers disposable and their lives become just a mere statistic. Not only have the police failed to act to deliver justice but statistically the police’s use of force is unreasonably higher towards black individuals than white individuals. It appears the police are fast to target black people and abuse their authority but when a black woman is the subject of a fatal attack, justice for her death is nowhere to be seen. Situations like these seem to be countless and seem to concern more than just law enforcement.

Racial prejudice is also seen in the government’s treatment of immigration. Two years ago, hundreds of Caribbean immigrants from the Windrush generation were denied legal rights and were wrongly detained and deported. The Windrush generation refers to those from Jamaica, Trinidad, Tobago and Barbados who immigrated to Britain between 1948 and 1971 after the government encouraged them to work to help rebuild the country after the war. Despite massively helping and restoring the country, Theresa May’s strict new immigration laws meant that elderly people were denied services, jobs and some had to endure deportation.

These, of course, are just a few examples of the injustices that BAME communities experience in their everyday life. There are hundreds of resources available to further your knowledge on institutionalised  racism such as books like “Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race” in which Reni Eddo-Lodge writes about her experiences as a black person in Britain.

I’m sure, like many, I have been ignorant to the full extent of systematic racism until recently. George Floyd’s death and the deaths of countless others are senseless and unjust, and my heart truly aches for those most directly affected by the inequality in our police force and in our wider institutions. I hope that our generation brings about much needed change in the world and the first step in doing that is to educate ourselves.