BLACK LIVES MATTER
A Caucasian Friend – “What’s your personal objective? What do you want to happen after all the protests have stopped?”
Originally posted on 7th June 2020
I have been reluctant to speak on the social unrest that has been taking place across the globe, not because I don’t know what to say, or that I don’t support the cause, but purely to protect my own peace. I have tried my best to avoid the news, social media, and all external influences because I am weak of heart, and the images of brutality, death, and oppression are damaging and trigger real feelings of pain and distress.
For context, I am black, I am a woman and I am a business owner. I am extremely proud to be all of those things, and I feel that’s important for me to make my voice heard, and support my peers in every way I can. I was born and raised in the United Kingdom. I am of Caribbean and African descent, and from the day I was born, I have felt the effects of all forms of racism. In education, in the playground, in the workplace, in the GP Surgery, both microaggressions and macroaggressions, I have experienced it all.
I am fortunate enough to have a platform to be able to speak, and if what I say can inspire change in at least one person in my audience, then it’s worth it.
Today, during a discussion about the Black Lives Matter movement, the protests in London, and Peaceful vs Violent action, a friend asked me, “What’s your personal objective? What do you want to happen after all the protests have stopped?”.
This is a question that I think a lot people want to ask and want to know the answer to, and to them I say what I have always said.
This is far more complicated than anybody can begin to comprehend.
When the protests end, when people stop signing petitions and donating to worthy causes, the landscape of the globe isn’t going to look that much different to how it looks now. That’s not how it works. This wave of activism may have started with the murder of George Floyd, but it won’t end when his murderers are jailed. The history of racism in America and the United Kingdom is institutionalised. These countries are built on the murder and oppression of black people. It’s written into the laws, it’s taught in schools, it’s fed to us daily in the media and on TV. It is so engrained in the way we live our lives, that if you’re not a victim of it, you’re ignorant to it even existing. So, to ask me, a black woman, what I expect to happen after these protests are over, is a little bit cheeky in my opinion. In fact, it’s abhorrent.
Racism in the UK isn’t as well documented and talked about as it is in America, mainly because the British have a habit of hiding its murky past. But what can be said is that it’s not too dissimilar. The reason why I believe that asking what I expect to see after the protests are over, is such a loaded question is because it has taken almost 500 years of systematic and institutionalised racism and racist conditioning, to get to where we are today and I believe it will take the same amount of time if not longer to dismantle it all.
For at least 300 of those years, black people were white people’s property. We had the same value as a piece of furniture! Bought, sold and bred like cattle! And what replaced that was 100 years of segregation and overt legalised racism. No racial mixing, No Black No Dogs No Irish. No acknowledgement of our contribution in building society and fighting your wars. And now? Racism has gone underground, it’s covert, it’s reworded in legislation, it’s referred to as unconscious bias, it’s ‘Can I touch your hair’, ‘I’m stopping you because you look suspicious’, ‘Where are you really from?’
The whole system needs to be torn down and rebuilt in a way that benefits every single human being on earth, and until that is done, the fight will never be over. From the top to the bottom, institutions have to change. This is not something that can be done overnight. I could go into the precise details of this, but there are books and podcasts that can explain this in more detail than I can.
Please see my list of recommended reading below.
One day, I am going to give birth to black children, so to answer the original question,
“What’s your personal objective? What do you want to happen after all the protests have stopped?”
I would love to be able to trace my family further back than 4 generations.
I want to raise my children in a world where the colour of their skin is completely irrelevant.
I want to be treated with the upmost care in hospital whilst giving birth, not having to worry if the health care professionals have unconscious bias towards me.
I want to be able to give my children names completely of my choosing without having to worry that they don’t sound ‘English’ enough and will affect their chances of getting a job.
I want my children to be able to have a completely innocent school experience.
I don’t want to have to teach them that they have to be extra good at school because they are more likely to be excluded for minor transgressions.
I don’t want to have to teach them that they have to work 10x harder than their peers from other races.
I want to be able to find my shade of foundation in Boots and Superdrug
I want to be able to change my hairstyle every couple of days without people asking me if they can touch it.
I want to be able to apply, and be hired for a job without feeling like I’m only there to fill a diversity quota.
I want to be able to read the newspaper without seeing subtle racism and bullying.
I want to feel like black issues are taken seriously in the government.
I want use my normal tone and colloquialisms without discrimination.
I would like to be able to voice my opinion in social situations without being stereotyped as the ‘Angry Black Woman’
I don’t want to have to warn my sons about stop and search.
I want fair and equal opportunities for everybody.
I don’t want to see innocent black people being killed by the police.
I want the psychological trauma of just being black to disappear.
I want everything I have ever been denied because of the colour of my skin.
And so, so much more.
To end on a positive note, we are stronger together than we are apart. There’s so much we can do to change the world one step at a time, and that relies heavily on us learning from each other and listening to each. I hope that in reading this you have either learnt something new, changed your way of thinking or found a friend and supporter in me.
Stay Safe, and look after each other.
Chloe
Recommended Reading!
Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race – Reni Eddo-lodge
Brit(ish): On Race Identity and Belonging – Afua Hirsch
Eloquent Rage – Brittany Cooper
The Good Immigrant – Nikesh Shukla
Black and White on the Buses – Madge Dresser
Natives – Akala
The Fire Next Time – James Baldwin
The Souls of Black Folk – W.E.B Du Bois
The Autobiography of Malcom X
Black and British – David Olusoga
Link to petitions, ways to donate and other resources - https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co
PSHKN/A is a black owned design studio, and I wholeheartedly support our community.