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A thread about how events in Minneapolis are being talked about here in the UK:
It seems so many black British people feel outrage and personally connected to what's going on…
While so many white (liberal) British people feel outrage but that it’s nothing to do with them.
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It seems so many black British people feel outrage and personally connected to what's going on…
While so many white (liberal) British people feel outrage but that it’s nothing to do with them.
1/9
If that wasnt strange enough...
…there's a persistent strand of white (liberal) voices who stubbonrly tell us how UK society is very different from the US and, by implication, black British people would be wrong to feel in a similar position to African-Americans.
2/9
…there's a persistent strand of white (liberal) voices who stubbonrly tell us how UK society is very different from the US and, by implication, black British people would be wrong to feel in a similar position to African-Americans.
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So I have a request:
If you are one of those people with that view…
Ask yourself why so many black people here in the UK feel so strongly that the events in the US are directly relevant to their lives.
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If you are one of those people with that view…
Ask yourself why so many black people here in the UK feel so strongly that the events in the US are directly relevant to their lives.
3/9
From my experience and from everyone I have spoken to, it’s because we, as black British people, feel like our place in British society is in many ways similar to African-Americans’ place in US society.
We feel what is happening there is similar to what happens to us.
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We feel what is happening there is similar to what happens to us.
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Of course there are differences. Deadly violence is far more common in US than UK. We’re all thankful for that.
But the targeting of black man, and a culture that seems to view our very existence as a dangerous threat, is a daily part of life in both societies.
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But the targeting of black man, and a culture that seems to view our very existence as a dangerous threat, is a daily part of life in both societies.
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But in US and UK black men often feel hated and hunted.
Staying alive, staying mentally healthy is something many of us struggle with every day. Whether you're a teenager on road, or an educated professional. It never fully goes away.
Our families + communities live it too
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Staying alive, staying mentally healthy is something many of us struggle with every day. Whether you're a teenager on road, or an educated professional. It never fully goes away.
Our families + communities live it too
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So when we watch those events we see ourselves, our families, our communities.
And- like it or not- when we see the complicity of many white Americans in racist violence towards black communities there, we recognise it as something some British people can be guilty of too.
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And- like it or not- when we see the complicity of many white Americans in racist violence towards black communities there, we recognise it as something some British people can be guilty of too.
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So here's the point, when it comes to discussing Minneapolis.
It doesnt help for us as black British people to be told ‘It’s terrible, but its got nothing to do with how things happen over here’.
It doesn't help. That just is not our lived experience.
8/9
It doesnt help for us as black British people to be told ‘It’s terrible, but its got nothing to do with how things happen over here’.
It doesn't help. That just is not our lived experience.
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But if you are one of those people who thinks what’s happening in US has nothing to do with the black experience in the UK. Pause. talk to some black people. Listen to them
Because, at the very least, you owe it to us to listen to how we feel not tell us how we should feel
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Because, at the very least, you owe it to us to listen to how we feel not tell us how we should feel
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