Racism is like a parasite. It feeds off your brain and pries on your ideologies and prejudices. If untreated it worsens and worsens until it requires action. It might make you act on it yourself, to the detriment of those you encounter. You might force the attention of someone more educated to treat you, or even better, educate yourself.
2020 is almost facing two pandemics: Covid-19 and racism, both killing, injuring and dismantling valuable lives. But racism discriminates, and it not only kills the body but it mutilates the soul. What’s so ironic about racism is that we have a vaccine, we have a cure and it is readily available.
Following the frankly brutal and inhumane murder of George Floyd by white policemen, the world has been shaken; started to rise up and call out the systemic racism at the heart of our institutions. Yet, racism, violence and police brutality have existed for centuries upon centuries. It seems no-one wants to cure it. George Floyd was killed because he was black. So was Philando Castile, Tamir Rice, Sandra Bland, Breonna Taylor to name only a few. But even in the UK we have seen the killings of not only Stephen Lawrence but hundreds of others – it was in the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry itself that alluded to institutional racism within the Met Police.
That’s the thing, BLACK LIVES MATTER. It’s a simple statement that seems so self-evident it does not require any further qualification. The problem with parasites is that they breed. And it is the same with ideologies. Following the murder of George Floyd, I can’t seem to articulate my anger at those authority figures who are not condemning racism, who are stoking the fire, who are using the Black Lives Matter as a political tool to harbour more selfish, prejudiced votes to cling on their own power. And that leads us to some peripheral problems with racism which ought to be addressed.
Racism and black lives are not monolithic. Each person and their community are a complex web of connectivity, but more importantly, every minority group faces their own obstacles, stereotypes and prejudices. There are plural racisms; characterised by these different forms of racism that existed over different periods in time and different geographies. Thus one is misguided to equate the plight of black people to that of each and every different ethnic minority, all of which have been impacted by different forms of oppression, created different wounds which all ought to be treated with the utmost care and precision. Even then, within each different communities lie issues of colourism, of class, of politics. If you really want to talk about equality, and really want black lives to matter on a societal spectrum, each one of these issues need to be corrected, every corner of every community need to be accounted for.
A deep fear is that once the protests end, the media cycle find something else to attach itself to; what next? It essential for not only black people but the population that there is justice. A justice which can be found in educating our children into issues of colonialisation. But not depicting black people as slaves, not just showing one side of the story, we also need to talk about black excellence. That inspiration can be sought in the lives of the oppressed and not just the oppressor for liberation to truly be within reach. Yet we too, need to keep the Black Lives Matter cause in the media cycle, we need to continuously strive for equality and it should not be sidelined; human rights should never be sidelined.
The Black Lives Matter protest is all about institutional and systemic racism. It is silent. You do not realise it is there until you look for it, or you feel it. It could be a micro-aggression initially but the deeper the parasite spreads and pollutes the host, the more violent the effects. Race and class are intrinsically linked, perhaps pointing towards a lack of diversity within the top governmental and in C-suite positions. In order to recover the institution, there ought to be social mobility so that the voice of every individual is heard. So that each action is truly representative.
It is paramount to note that the issue of race is sewn into the fabric of every global issue. As I write, I realise my audience will be primarily women, most of which would describe themselves as feminists. Yet what type of feminist would you describe yourself as? I sometimes find myself in discourse with white feminists who rightfully dream that one day each woman will have the same doors open for them as a man. Yet to strive for true equality across all spectrums, we ought to be actively intersectional. We ought to strive for equality no matter your gender, your identity, your class or your race. No-one should be subject to the emotional and physical torture which the oppressed have experienced.
The activism that has been shown symbolises a flicker of hope. Races and classes and genders have been seen to unite and pluck out the polluting strands of this parasite from the institution. It will be slow. It may vanish. But the time, struggle and hope ought to continue to enable human rights to be actively accessible to all.