By 
0
0
In 2017 I wrote a blog post about why I don’t agree with Black Lives Matter, with a picture of myself posing holding a sign saying ‘All Lives Matter.’ (The above image is a spin-off of that one.) This post is re-addressing my thoughts on Black Lives Matter overall. While I still have similar views, I would like to expand my initial thoughts.
Part One: The USA
Misinformation
First, I must correct what I got wrong. In the 2017 article, I stated that Yusra Kholagi, a known black supremacist, was one of the co-founders. Three women actually co-founded the movement, named Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi. None of these women have been on record as ‘black supremacists.’ Yusra Kholagi co-founded the TORONTO faction of Black Lives Matter, NOT the original overall movement.
The movement was founded in 2013 as a response to the acquittal of George Zimmerman. This was following the death of Trayvon Martin.
Addressing the Black Lives Matter Organisation
Black Lives Matter, as an organisation, is decentralized. It has no former governor, no official ‘leader’. Its original aims were to target a very specific problem of police brutality against young black men in America.
At its core, Black Lives Matter has positive intentions. It started as a way to directly raise awareness about injustice against a group of people. Most people (apart from vehement racists) don’t agree with murdering someone just because they are black. The movement has spread to host multiple ‘umbrella’ movements and groups that fly the flag of Black Lives Matter, campaigning for various levels of justice for black people worldwide.
American Police
The American police are some of the most violent in the world. Many officers among the US police force treat members of the public with unnecessary aggression and cruelty. Some of that aggression is directed towards black Americans.
And some of it is directed to people of other ethnic backgrounds. Between the years 2015 and 2020, 800-1000 Americans were murdered by police officers every year. Most of them were men.
2020: American police officers murdered George Floyd, a black man.
2019: American police officers murdered Dimas Diaz, a Hispanic man.
2018: American police officers murdered Lloyd Napuk, an Asian man.
2017: American police officers murdered Kyler Grabbingbear, a Native American boy.
2016: American police officers murdered Tony Timpa, a white man.
He Shoots, He Sucks
Having looked through some of these cases, I definitely found men who were armed, and posed a threat to civilian safety. Some of these men were indeed violent murderers, or had a dirty track-record.
That said, I am from the UK. Police officers here don’t just shoot at criminals as a first point. There is only one infamous case in the UK that I know of where the police shot and killed a man. It sparked the 2011 London riots. Ironically, the British police are the ones more likely to be murdered by civilians.
The American police are definitely too trigger-happy when it comes to using firearms. In some of these cases, the suspects ‘allegedly’ had weapons, or the ‘weapon’ turned out to not be a weapon at all.
As a British person who views guns as dangerous weapons, I have always found the American obsession with guns to be insane. I cannot understand why an ordinary civilian would want to own a gun. (The only exception being they live in an area with dangerous wild animals and the gun is purely a tool for self-defence.)
Whenever police officers kill a black American, we hear about it worldwide. But overall; Hispanic Americans, Native Amerians, Asian Americans, and yes, white Americans, are also victims of police brutality. And some (not all) of these victims, were not ‘innocent bystanders.’ (Not saying that this means they deserve to be killed.)
What’s Race Got to Do With It?
African-Americans are descendants of the horrific slavery that occurred centuries ago. But Native-Americans are descendants of genocide. We often hear about African-American injustice. But we rarely hear about the people who had their land stolen from them.
America is one of the few countries in the world where its native populace do not comprise the majority. Most people in England are white English. Most people in Tanzania are black Tanzanians. Most people in China are ethnically Chinese. But most Americans are descendants of elsewhere.
Much attention is given to the historical injustice faced by black Americans. Yet, the injustice served to people of other ethnicities are largely ignored.
Do American Police Kill More Blacks?
The answer is yes and no. White Americans are killed more by police officers because there are more white people than any other racial demographic in America. HOWEVER, black Americans are disproportionately murdered. Their rate of murder is 2.8 times higher than white Americans.
So yes, on statistical average, black Americans are more likely to be murdered by police than white Americans. (If we ignore the other ethnicities and just look at those two.) Black Americans are also more likely to be unarmed.
African-Americans are more likely to reside in poorer communities. In any part of the world, crime mostly happens among those who are the poorest, REGARDLESS of race. This is because the less money you have, the more desperate you are, thus more likely to commit crime.
This begs another question. Why are African-Americans among the poorest in America?
Black Americans vs Their System
In America, being black DOES equate to carrying centuries of generational trauma. African-Americans in the USA have undergone widespread damage as a result of slavery, segregation, and problems affecting their community. These problems are tied-in with the American system. The civil rights movement only happened six decades ago. It is going to take a long, long time to undo the centuries of severe racial discrimination that has been thrust onto black Americans.
So in that context, I support Black Lives Matter (for America). I support the need for a movement that needs to change the way black Americans are systemically disadvantaged.
But I will also say this.
Trauma Bonding
When one endures trauma, they can only let it consume them for so long. Harsh as that sounds, we cannot be defined by our past struggles. If a person is raped, bullied, or loses a loved one, they can still (and should) look to move past this. THIS DOESN’T MEAN that they ignore what has happened to them. This doesn’t mean that they don’t live with the effects of their trauma.
It just means that they don’t let it define every part of their being. And sadly, Black Lives Matter encourages too many black people, in the USA and elsewhere, to define themselves by shared trauma.
I used to frequent AA Meetings. I know what it’s like for a group of people to come together and define themselves through trauma.
Native Americans have had to move on from generational trauma. Jewish folk have had to move on from generational trauma. Every ethnic group has generational trauma. But we don’t need to be defined by it.
All Lives Matter?
When people say ‘All Lives Matter’, they are usually saying it for one of two reasons:
a) They literally believes that every person’s life matters and we should all be judged on our individual merit and character rather than by race
b) They are genuinely racist, do not care about black lives, and are using the phrase as a dog-whistle to signal to members of alt-right groups.
Needless to say, I fall into the first category, however I can understand the potential dangers of using a phrase that is sadly used by members of the second category.
Truthfully, ‘black lives matter’ and ‘all lives matter’ both miss the point. Black Lives Matter fails to tackle the inherent problem of police brutality by turning it into a purely racial issue. ‘All lives matter’ serves as a reactionary statement which is inherently meaningless. Ultimately, there should be a broader movement to tackle police brutality against ALL Americans, with race being one area observed within the movement.
But I also recognize that there needs to be more systemic reform for African Americans. While Black Lives Matter is not perfect, maybe it is a place to start.
Part Two: The UK
Windrush
Black British Caribbeans living in the UK today, who are my age, are mostly descendants of the Windrush generation. Before this, black people did not comprise a huge chunk of the British population.
In the 1940s, there was a mass migration of Caribbeans to the United Kingdom. They migrated to this country for economic prosperity and job prospects. Most of them came to the capital, which is why most black British folk today live in London and other big cities.
Now, it is very true that many black folk who came from the Caribbeans experienced racial discrimination in England. The same can be said for Indians and other Asian folk who migrated to England for working purposes.
Black Brits vs Black Americans
No one deserves to experience racial discrimination. But the discrimination against the black Windrush descendants is no different to the discrimination faced by any other ethnic group in England. (Particularly Asians, which I’ll touch on shortly.) In fact, the discrimination against the Irish has been going on since the 12th century in the UK (and the USA). (Prominant in the phrase ‘no Blacks, no dogs, no Irish‘.)
This is far longer than discrimination of the small black community in the UK.
I say this to emphasise that the position of blacks in England and blacks in America is highly different. African-Americans are products of intense, drawn out, centuries-long systemic racism and segregation specific to their demographic.
Black British folk simply cannot compare their struggles to the struggles of African-Americans. To be clear, I’m not saying that a black person in England can’t speak up about racial injustice. I’m not saying that just because it’s ‘worse’ in America doesn’t mean it’s ‘not so bad’ in England.
But I am saying the context of racism in England against black people is exceedingly different from the context of racism in America. The UK and America are very very different countries with very very different histories. This applies to everything, not just race.
Thus I cannot possibly know what it is like to be black in a country where most of the black population’s ancestors were slaves.
My ancestors were not slaves. My great-grandfather was advisor to the Chief of the tribe my Tanzanian family come from. And this brings me to another paradigm between black people living in England.
Black British Caribbean vs Black African
My father is Tanzanian, not British Tanzanian (that would be me and my brother). His dad owned a farm in Tanzania, and his dad was a well-known Reverend in the community, and HIS dad was advisor to the Chief of the Chaga tribe.
There is no ‘generational trauma’ within my black heritage. My African roots have nothing to do with England. (Colonialism aside, which only benefited the white upper-class.) My father has been a working migrant in this country for nearly three decades, and has experienced the least amount of racial discrimination here compared to other European countries he has lived in. He wears his country’s pride on his sleeve (and newspaper column). He went to school in his home country, and is revered as an important, educated man in his home country. My Tanzanian relatives mostly reside in their home country.
Just because we look alike, doesn’t mean our experiences are the same.
I did not grow up with horror stories about my dad being mistreated by the white system as a black man. If anything, I heard the opposite. Job opportunities, prospects, and kind treatment. No police brutality or stop-and-search. My dad has lived in Brazil, and ventured all over the world, and never hesitated to say how the police in England are the politest he has encountered.
So as a black person, my experiences are different from African-Americans, and different from black British Windrush descendants. I’m far-removed from racism compared to these two demographics.
Asian Invasion
As for my mum, she comes from an Indian family, born and raised in the UK. The experiences of Asians in the UK is similar to the experiences of black British folk. During the Thatcher years (as movies like This is England show us), racism towards Indians was common from groups like the National Front, with horrific uproars against ‘those fucking pakis’ occuring.
Once again, despite India being the first English colony, little media attention is given to the racial injustice that has beheld Indians and other Asian groups in the UK. This rings similar to the dismissal of Native American injustice in the USA.
Why is it that we view black injustice as somehow ‘worse’ than injustice served to other racial demographics?
Ironically, Indians and Chinese folk are the wealthiest demographic of people in the UK. This is despite facing the same discrimination as black British folk.
50 Shades of White
When you’re born and raised in London, you get used to people of multiple ethnic backgrounds. I’ve been around so many various ‘white’ people in my life. White Polish, white Romanian, white Irish, white South African, my white-mixed-with-Indian cousins, white Jewish (who I saw face lots of discrimination growing up), white Turkish, white Kosovon, and so on.
It’s only when I went to sixth form and especially university that I met so many white English people. White English people NOT from London are incredibly different to those from London. This is an example of white English classism. White surburban middle-class folk may refer to white working-class folk as ‘chavs‘ and Irish gypsies as ‘pikeys.’ (I witnessed this white classism first-hand outside of London.)
This is another reason why the concept of ‘white privilege’ baffles me. What kind of white are we talking about? There are so many different kinds of white people (just as there are different kinds of black people). We haven’t even accounted for class and wealth differences.
Jews and Eastern-Europeans
A white Polish person and a white English person are culturally VERY different. The only thing they have in common, again, is their skin tone. (In the context of race and culture.) The Eastern European migrants that came to this country when I was in primary school, many of whom are on low-incomes and who work in social work and public health sectors, are certainly going to have a lot to say about their so-called ‘white privilege.’
This is why these terms don’t sit right with me. They are too reductive. For a person of Eastern European descent, their race IS going to be something that affects them when living in the UK. The UK Independence Party had a lot to say about the ‘bloody Eastern Europeans stealing the jobs of good-hearted English people.’ (Despite Eastern European working migrants mostly doing blue-collar work.)
Furthermore, Jews are a group that have faced major discrimination throughout human history. The Jewish holocaust occured for six years, not several centuries. But numerically, the amount of Jews murdered in such a short space of time was vastly disproportionate within itself.
As a child, I lived in Stamford Hill, which has one of the largest Jewish communities in Europe. Do you know what kids I went to school with said about Jews? That while they didn’t like Hitler, they liked the fact that he got rid of Jewish people. I witnessed so much hatred and fear of Jews growing up. But you won’t hear The Voice talk about that.
Once again, we single out ‘black people’ as a distinctly marginalized group. But we ignore Jews, Irish, Indians, and Eastern-Europeans, all whom have also faced discrimination in the UK.
America Rules All
Lastly, there is one nation right now that has set the tone for global socio-political and economic prowess, with my home island licking its arse. I could do an entire blog post on the self-righteousness of the USA.
We cannot judge the standards of the rest of the world by what is only happening in America and in England.
WE CANNOT JUDGE THE STANDARDS OF THE REST OF THE WORLD BY WHAT IS ONLY HAPPENING IN AMERICA AND IN ENGLAND.
WE CANNOT JUDGE THE STANDARDS OF THE REST OF THE WORLD BY WHAT IS ONLY HAPPENING IN AMERICA AND IN ENGLAND.
There are nearly two hundred countries in the world, with social cultures that are not dictated by Anglo-American culture. Issues of race differ across Korea, Panama, Somalia, France, Japan, New Zealand, Chad, Mexico, Turkey, Indonesia, Gambia, and etc. In countries across the world, there are things going on that us in England and America simply don’t know (and don’t care) about.
I say this because we need to remember to keep the world in context. This is why it is good to speak to people who have travelled a lot, like my dad or Mark Manson.
When you grow up in a huge city filled with people from everywhere, or have been to varying parts of the world, you can’t see things in polarities. When you assume that everyone thinks like you, because your country dominates the world’s media and everyone knows who your president is, you forget that the majority of the world DOESN’T think like you.
America is a minority of the world, yet it feels like a majority because it is so powerful. We are all so influenced by American domination of film, music, media, news, and culture. The UK directly feels this influence, which is why in my blog posts, I often talk about the UK and America because Britain has been so highly shaped by American culture.
Not all black people are alike in background, culture or thinking. The same goes for white people, and those of other ethnic demographics.
Conclusion
The American police are too violent and abuse their power. This is the core issue at hand, and needs to be addressed first. Once this is addressed, matters of race can be resolved more easily. But if we continue to make the issue primarily about race and secondarily about violence, we ignore the other racial demographics of folks who are murdered, and we ignore the core issue of police brutality.
(Lol, I say ‘we’ like I’m American. #FirstWorldProblems #AllHailAmerica)
The police are supposed to protect the citizens and uphold the law. That is what British police do. They are supposed to protect citizens from dangerous criminals, not BE the dangerous criminals.
Black Americans are culturally different from black British folk. And black Brits differ culturally among ourselves. Sweeping every single ‘black’ person under one umbrella term ignores things like culture, class, upbringing, religion, and varying nuances which affect how we think and behave.
The experiences of black people living in America differ from the experiences of black people living in the UK; Canada, Germany, Venezuela, Tanzania, Japan, Singapore. And to go deeper, the experiences of black people living in major ‘liberal’ cities like London or New York differ from those who live in small towns. As someone born and raised in London, I am never going to fully identify with a black person who grew up in a small, ethnically homogenous town.
The Personal Isn’t Always Political
No one deserves to experience racism. I do sympathise with those for whom racism is a big part of their life. But it is not something I can relate to. Anxiety, depression, alcoholism and panic attacks are all things I have struggled with for the last several years at varying stages. Panic attacks are a major struggle for me. Racial issues remain a minor concern.
Racism, sexism, and other ‘isms’ are definitely bad things for anyone to endure. But there is a whole world of personal struggles outside of these that people go through. And truthfully, being black has never hindered anything for me. When I look at you, I see another human being. I judge people based on their character traits. Maybe one day the rest of the world will too.
About time someone spelled out the real issues. Thanks Zarina 🙂
No worries!