Let’s start by saying Black Lives Matter. I agree with this, without qualification. I’m going to carry this phrase with me.
The Black Lives Matter movement is at the front of my mind. That’s unsurprising, during these last two weeks, but, shamefully, it should have been there far longer.
It might look like 2020 is throwing another horror story at us. We’ve had COVID-19, economic collapse, general Trumpishness and more, until we were joking about “murder hornets” coming from South America to get us – and that the grim headlines of 2020 had become routine.
Then a police officer murdered George Floyd in Minneapolis and the U.S. exploded into protests, riots and violent state oppression. Donald Trump – a creature so devoid of redeeming features that children talk about him in tones that, during my childhood, were reserved for Adolf Hitler – again redefined his nadir as crowds chanted outside the White House. Stung by accusations of cowardice because he hid in his bunker, he had a peaceful protest tear-gassed so he could have a photo opportunity outside a church.
This is a shocking story, feeding the latest headlines. But Trump’s behaviour, and the killing of George Floyd, are not some special creation of the hell year. This has been coming for a long time.
Last week, ex-President Jimmy Carter, now 95, remembered how, in 1971, he gave a speech including the words “the time for racial discrimination is over”. Nearly 50 years later, at the memorial service for George Floyd, the Rev. Al Sharpton said “a pandemic of racism” led to Floyd’s death.
Know their names: Eric Garner. Tamir Rice. Philando Castile. So many more, dead at the hands of heavily-militarised authorities who are part of a system infected with racism. This is the culmination of centuries of injustice.
And hatred, intolerance, inequality exist across the world. We judge quickly and make assumptions based on race, religion, class – sometimes even the street where somebody grew up.
Have you checked your privilege? Have you questioned yourself, asking if you treat people like people, every time?
Let’s start with saying Black Lives Matter, and take it from there. Let’s do better.
