Black Lives Matter (BLM) is an organized movement advocating for non-violent civil disobedience in protest against police brutality and systemic racism faced by Black people and other People of Colour primarily in America but also in countries such as England, Libya, France, and South Africa. The movement started in America in response to the murder of Trayvon Martin by neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman in 2015 (Elliott, Hughes & Bishop, 2019). Zimmerman was charged but acquitted after citing self-defense (Research, 2020). This essay will explore some of the racist undertones found in mainstream media representations of the movement and the importance of history as a contributing factor.
To understand the racist undertones which underlie the representation of BLM in mainstream media one must first understand the socio-economic position of Black people in the aforementioned countries-specifically the UK and America and the history which led to it. Many European countries have a detailed history of racism and colonialism; The UK is no exception and colonialism plays a massive role in understanding their current attitudes to race as a nation, specifically, the transatlantic slave trade which led to over 11 million Black people taken from the African continent and being enslaved and murdered over the course of 400+ years (Mazower, 2008). The transatlantic slave trade single-handedly created the African diaspora (the largest forced migration resulting in people of African descent being dispersed) and plundered the natural resources of the African continent which is an ongoing affair especially in the Congo and Sierra Leone for cobalt and diamonds respectively.
The enslaved were perceived as property used to fulfill the will of their ‘masters’ whatever shape it took. Although this is trivialized in the media to only equate picking cotton it extended but was not limited to blacksmithing, breastfeeding, carpentry, building, and domestic works("Slaves Work and Work Done By Slaves - History", 2020). Following the abolition of slavery in 19th century UK the enslaved, now ‘free men/women’ became third rate citizens because although they were free from a legal standpoint, they were still required to stay on plantations working for free under the abolishment of slavery act 1833 (Adi, 2012). The ‘free men/women’ were dealt a unique cruelty in that their ‘owners’ were paid reparations for ‘loss of property’ instead of them for the loss of life, culture, and basic human rights; all of which are the legacy of slavery. To pay slave owners the British government made a loan of £20 million; one of the largest loans in history which equates to roughly £16.5 billion today when accounting for inflation- which is equal to 40 percent of the Treasury’s annual income or 5 percent of British GDP (Fowler & Manjapra, 2020) & ("Legacies of the Slave Trade - Ending Slavery | Historic England", 2020). This meant that Black people were disenfranchised members of society with no economic power and whose existence was scrutinised and trauma ignored. The heritage of imperialism and colonialism is entangled with the pain of the black experience and the theft of their knowledge and resources.
Negative stereotypes were used to diminish and control perceptions of Black people. Laziness, for instance, was seen as an inherent flaw of the Black race, it was also believed that Black people generally but Black women especially had supernatural strength and tolerance for pain but this was simply a lie perpetuated by slave owners to legitimise their cruelty, brutality and othering. The perpetuation of these negative stereotypes legitimised the racism of the time which affected the livelihood of Black People because these ideas were seen as truth and cemented in mainstream ideology where they are still nestled today (characteristics of submissiveness, backwardness, lewdness, treachery, and dishonesty”) . This meant Black people although present were not readily welcome to the infrastructure of the societies they lived in ("Popular and Pervasive Stereotypes of African Americans", n.d.).These systems evolved to create institutional racism; a systemic means of discriminating against Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC) which keeps them disadvantaged because things such as the colour of their skin, dialect, and language are passively scrutinised. This is normalised and in part creates racism as it is known today (Booth, 2019). Ultimately institutional racism affects Black people on all levels. It is to blame for Black women dying disproportionately during childbirth as their pain is disregarded because of the racist misconception that they do not feel pain or that they can withstand higher levels of pain for longer and the disproportionate deaths of BIPOC during the coronavirus (Kasprzak, 2019) & (Campbell, 2020). Unconscious bias and covert and overt racism are facets of Institutional racism. Unconscious bias is noticeable in instances where white people may tell Black people they are ‘one of the good ones’ this comment which is supposed to be well-meaning simply reinforces the idea that Black people are inherently bad, making a ‘good’ or ‘nice’ Black person a rarity. Covert racism is transmitted through ideology which is evident in Black hair disallowed in the professional sphere, being against the school and work policy because it is perceived as unprofessional and needs to be ‘tamed’ or ‘handled’(Dabiri, 2020) and overt racism is made evident in the over-policing of Black people and their likelihood of being in danger of increased force while in police custody. These are due to seeing Black people as more of a threat than their white counterparts (Shaw, 2015).
A lack of socio-economic power also contributes to discrimination in the form of racism. The notion that Black people are an inferior people to to their white counterparts is perpetuated in the language, laws, and general attitudes towards Black people. These ideas mean that Black people are judged more harshly than whites, making it harder to find employment. In America, Jim Crow laws segregated white from Black people but also other POC, and where they had made political and economic strides white supremacist groups such as the KKK or simply government officials undermined and destroyed their communities such is the case of Bruces beach- the first beach owned by and meant for Black people on the Pacific Ocean which was taken by the city in 1924 via eminent domain. The city tore the resort down three years later (Evains, 2020) & (Pilgrim, 2020). In the UK, there is an omission of general Black British history post-slavery and pre-Windrush. There are few references to Black people who became lawyers and musicians, however, their importance is only relative to their white counterparts or their efforts against slavery (abolitionist) such as the case of Ignatius Sancho but aside from the handful, most were referred to simply as servants/ slave-servants but there is little record of the lifestyle or attitudes of the general Black public (Goulbourne, 2020) ("Working Lives - Black British History in the 18th and 19th Centuries | Historic England", 2020) & ("Black Lives in England - Black British History in the 18th and 19th Centuries | Historic England", 2020).
These negative stereotypes and omissions or erasure of Black people in the media and history become, the lens through which Black people are seen; a narrow and limited, one-dimensional idea which contributes to a set character for Black people in industry (McDuffie, 2019). As such Black people are more likely to be considered a threat while doing mundane activities their white counterparts do freely. This can be seen in the case of many of the murders by police officers where officers shoot first and rarely ask questions; they are not charged for the murders which often include unarmed Black people and on the rare chance they are they are usually acquitted. This is evident in cases such as the murders of Mark Duggan, Breonna Taylor, Stephon Clarke, Sandra Bland, and George Floyd all who were unarmed Black people but perceived a threat due to the colour of their skin. The officers who murdered them were not charged and in most cases got off with a suspension for infractions where they should have been sacked (Harding, 2020)(Busby, 2020)&(Morales & Sgueglia, 2020). This underlying bias is reflected in the 2020 UK prison population statistics which show that Black and ethnic minorities are over-represented in prisons even though they make up less of the general population i.e. 27% of the prison population are ethnic minorities compared with 13% in the general population (Sturge, 2020). As such the Black Lives Matter movement is affected by these bias’ and condemned for their efforts. For instance, George Floyd’s death galvanised peaceful protests which broke out around the world in solidarity with BLM and George Floyd’s family. However, some of these protests involved the looting of stores and damage of property and although they consist of a diverse range of people with many videos online showing this, Black people were predominantly blamed and represented in negative articles (Timothy, 2020) & (ABC7NY, 2020). This further perpetuates the negative perception of Black people by creating a narrative of animosity. This is shown for instance, in the ‘looting’ of a Rolex store where police claimed millions worth of watches were be stolen by BLM and protestors but Rolex put forward a formal statement denying this as they had not left any merchandise in-store. (Wolf, 2020)
Racism is ingrained in the very fabric of society and perpetuated through unconscious bias and an infrastructure which perpetuates racist and eurocentric ideology. The world map for instance distorts the size of Africa making it smaller in relation to other continents and countries such as Greenland to give the impression of inferiority of the African people and the African continent (Krause, 2010). The BLM movement believes that to overcome a racist system means to dismantle and replace it, with one free from these prejudices. Part of the movement's action plan is to reform the established systems in place which uphold systemic social inequalities ("About", n.d.).This sentiment can be seen through supporting each other outside the widely accepted nuclear family structure and more recently trying to defund the police and replace them with a body which is better equipped to handle the magnitude of problems they are expected to fulfill (Levin, 2020) (Weale, Bakare & Mir, 2020). Although defunding the police sounds outrageous it is important to note that if the police force was a working system there would be fewer prisons, arrests, and crimes due to ‘criminals’ being deterred by their presence or reformed through the system itself, instead the data proves there are more of each every year meaning policing in the current manner is not effective.("Prisons", 2020). However, defunding the police does not mean discarding the police force and prisons but repurposing and creating systems that actually improve public safety instead of only treating symptoms such as violence, crime and drug use and not the underlying cause i.e. poverty, overcrowding etc which ultimately disrupts communal life. However, the labour leader Keir Starmer in his BBC interview treats the notion as ridiculous and attempts to undermine the BLM movement for having such aspirations. The idea of defunding the police has led to businesses across industry who showed solidarity with BLM to disassociate from them claiming the movement has been hijacked by Marxist ideology and so they can not show support for them. The BBC however, have no qualms with wearing poppies for Remembrance Day which is also a political symbol showing that the issue is not the symbolism or the so-called political attachment but rather the movement itself (Why, 2016). These attitudes work to undermine the movement as the association with Marxism connotes a direct opposition to capitalism and our current society making BLM out to be an antagonist. This is further reflected in how the BBC reported the Far-Right protests which followed the BLM protests in London. Although those protests were a reaction to BLM, the movement purposely cancelled their protest to avoid altercations with the alt-right opposition. They are obviously not the same and as such the constant referral and generalisation discredits BLM when reported as a collective or in reference. This undermines how the BLM movement is seen as they are blamed for the distress instead of being shown as the victims of blatant racism. ("Twenty three charged over London protests", 2020)
These oversights in the media are part of the reason BLM also advocates for a restructured national curriculum which reflects BIPOC history and the truth of colonialism and the part it played in atrocities such as slavery. The lack of teaching on the horrors and shames of the British empire perpetuates a lack of accountability and stifles conversation around the topic as it is made inaccessible. This leads to a misguided yet distinct pride in the might and valour of the empire but with none of the understanding of the consequence for its actions (Smith, 2020). The lack of context creates a disconnect in the perception of the British Empire and its truth, this misinformation leads to the misconception that the British Empires largest part to play in slavery was ending it, when in reality the British Empire had dominated Africa and colonised more countries than any other with the last colony being freed in only 1980 (Ukawuilulu, 2020). The British played a distinct part in slavery and the transport of slaves ("Imperialism and socialism in the context of Africa | South African History Online", 2020). This disillusion of the empire has led to mass denial of the responsibility Britain then holds for the treatment and break down of many countries; now characterised as underdeveloped because the history of slavery, colonialism, and concentration camps is swept under the rug and replaced with a white saviour explanation of missionaries and ‘civilising a savage people’ (Pomeranz,2005). This disconnect between the truth and the patriotic idea of empire is a result of slavery always being at arm's length from the UK with plantations in the Caribbean islands instead of on homeland like in America. These places and their history are not as tangible or accessible as places of similar history in the US. It is argued for this reason in "Empire and Emancipation" that `racism is not simply a by-product of empire but an intrinsic part of it, part of the intestines of the British empire.’ (Pieterse, 1990, p.223.)
In conclusion, racism is sewn into the fabric of our society and slavery is the backbone which has been left undiscussed. The British empire was once one of the greatest in known history but it did so on the backs of slaves and the blood of the African continent which bolstered its economy. This history which is left unaddressed shapes the dialogue and discourse surrounding Black people generally and it now extends to conversation around BLM. It is indicative of the relationship between society and Black people that their pain must be explained and repeated to be understood and still fall on deaf ears.This is reflected in the Black Lives Matter movement who have been peacefully protesting worldwide during a global pandemic which has crippled the government's of many western countries namely the USA and UK for 6 months and counting yet are met with nothing but resistance and low media coverage.
Written and Researched by
Brandon "the Village Boy" Turner
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