The murder of George Floyd, who was pinned under the knee of a police officer for nine minutes and 29 seconds, captured in graphic, stomach-churning detail the violence that black people have suffered around the globe.
That history of violence, from slavery to colonialism, has a legacy of prejudice in education, housing
and jobs, the law and at the hands of those who are meant to “serve and protect”.
Racist institutions have been challenged in the last year like never before.
From the sporting arenas, where “taking the knee” has become the symbol of solidarity, to tearing
down slaver statues, the world has been forced to look again at race and what it means.
Presenting a more balanced view of history was, and is, a necessary reckoning.
But removing the symbols of slavery, a plaque here and there, is not the equivalent of institutional change.
That requires a more fundamental approach to what kind of society we are and hope to become.
The UK Government’s controversial report on race, which claimed to not find institutional racism in the
areas it studied, is a sign of how far we still have to go to confront our past and present.
The report concluded that the country “no longer” has a system rigged against people from ethnic
minorities.
It also said family structure and social class had a bigger impact than race on how people’s lives turned out.
Racism exists, the report acknowledged, but it failed to fully take into account the lived experience of many black and ethnic minority communities who see barriers put in their way every day of their lives.
The health, education and career outcomes for many minority communities speak for themselves.
What explanation is there that infant mortality was twice as high in Black African and Pakistani babies as White British babies, except that the system – the life opportunities available and obtainable – are different for these groups.
For the white-majority community, much of that inbuilt prejudice is hard to see.
But it must be seen and we must all try to make a difference.
Individuals, groups, companies – every part of society – must work to eradicate racism.
Every small step we take can lead to bigger changes down the line, when no-one is ever again disempowered simply because of the colour of their skin.
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