Dear Security Distillery Readers,
We would like to pause from publishing our usual content for a day in order to discuss the brutal white supremacy that has been plaguing our communities, and the actions we can take to be active change-makers.
Last week on May 25, 2020 George Floyd was murdered by police officers in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. After the handcuffed Floyd fell to the ground, a police officer named Derek Chauvin placed his knee on Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds. Three other officers (Thomas Lane, J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao) watched as Floyd gasped for breath, eventually saying “I can’t breathe” and “They’re going to kill me”. [1] In the video, witnesses can be heard crying and begging the policemen to stop, to do something. [2] As the three policemen stood by, Floyd died under Chauvin’s knee. [3] His murder has served as yet another reminder that the legacy of systemic and personal racism against Black Americans lives on, and that police brutality continues to be a particularly heinous expression of that legacy.
Floyd’s murder has proven to be a breaking point for communities already mourning the losses of other innocent Black lives, such as Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbury. [6] In the last week, protests have erupted across the US and the world, demanding the fundamental restructuring of a system that relies on white supremacy and enables police brutality. [4] Ironically, the response to these protests has often been increased state violence, including the use of tear gas and rubber bullets, the violent arresting of protestors, the deployment of the United States National Guard, and the imposition of strict curfews. [5]
While the history and conditions of the US lend themselves to exceptional violence and lethality, the spectre of white supremacy and systemic racism looms internationally. The battle for racial equity and social justice is a global one. While the rage you may feel against the American system is certainly justified, it is likely that echoes and reflections of the same core issues exist in your community as well. In the UK, 51% of young people in jail are people of colour (POC), despite only making up 14% of the overall population. [6] In France, police have been repeatedly caught using racial slurs against North Africans, and in 2016, they stangled a young man named Adama Touaré to death. [7] In country after country, we see state-sanctioned violence disproportionately targeting Black citizens and POC.
Dominant narratives across Asia, Africa, South America, and Oceania reveal how Western standards of mannerism, beauty, and cultural practice have moulded how individuals come to view themselves. From India and Nigeria to South Korea, much of the post-colonial world has been sold the lie that fair skin is key to professional success [8], marriageability [9] and improved social status. White supremacy has fueled a lucrative global industry of fairness products and services, and its profit depends on anti-Blackness. The European colonial project dehumanised indigenous populations as “savages” and weaponized racial politics to justify their oppression. The wounds of that narrative continue to fester long after independence.
Racism is not a relic of the past: the systemic inequities that plague the world are a result of historical and contemporary laws and actions around the world. This is why the protests demanding an end to racial violence in the US have resonated in so many other countries. Individuals, regardless of status or nationality, must reflect on their actions and acknowledge how they profit off black and indigenous [10] whilst retaining racist beliefs. Uprooting injustice necessitates the participation of every member of society, regardless of age, gender, race or nationality as the threat of inequality is pervasive, vicious, and homicidal to current and future generations. International support of the Black Lives Matter movement is imperative: the condemnation of white supremacy in the US may act as a proxy and a spark for the global fight against racism and the industries that profit from its continuation.
For those seeking to get involved, we have put together a condensed list of resources, including places to donate, sign petitions, and accessible educational tools. A few resources are linked below, and the full list can be found as a downloadable PDF by clicking here.
● Freedom is a Constant Struggle by Angela Davis
● To help bail out protestors in cities across the US
● To provide food/medical supplies/general aid to the protestors via local mutual aid funds (Thanks to @thegirlwithfood on Twitter for the links)
● To support BLM by raising ad revenue through this video if physically joining a protest or donating money is not possible
● Master Resources (including gofundmes, petitions, fundraisers, and more) (thanks to @AM1R4HSCAVE on Twitter for these links):
○ https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/
○ https://blackliveswillalwaysmatter.carrd.co/#
Sincerely,
Emma Lin Hurlbert, Margaret Born, and Smera Jayadeva
Sources
[1] McLaughlin, Eliott C. “Three Videos Show the Final Moments of George Floyd’s Life.” CNN, June 1, 2020. https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/01/us/george-floyd-three-videos-minneapolis/index.html.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Michaels, Samantha. “Breonna Taylor Is One of a Shocking Number of Black People to See Armed Police Barge into Their Homes.” Mother Jones (blog). Accessed June 2, 2020. https://www.motherjones.com/crime-justice/2020/05/breonna-taylor-is-one-of-a-shocking-number-of-black-people-to-see-armed-police-barge-into-their-homes/.
[5] McCarthy, Tom. “Police Criticized over Heavy-Handed Response to Peaceful Protests across US.” The Guardian, June 2, 2020, sec. US news. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jun/02/police-criticized-heavy-handed-response-peaceful-protests-across-us.
Seligman, Lara. “In Crisis Mode, Trump Again Leans on the Military.” POLITICO. Accessed June 2, 2020. https://www.politico.com/news/2020/06/01/trump-deploy-federal-assets-protests-294298.
[6] Cockburn, Harry. “Over Half of Male Young Offenders Are from Black or Minority Ethnic Backgrounds for First Time, Report Reveals.” The Independent, January 19, 2019. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/crime-records-young-offenders-bme-record-level-uk-prisons-children-jail-stc-yoi-a8750611.html.
Maxwell, Kevin. “Sorry Cressida Dick, but as a Black Former Detective I Know Just How Racist the Met Still Is.” The Independent, July 11, 2019, sec. Voices. https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/met-police-cressida-dick-no-longer-institutionally-racist-racism-black-officer-a9001176.html.
Novara Media. “The UK Is Not Innocent – Police Racism Has a Long and Violent History Here Too.” Accessed June 2, 2020. https://novaramedia.com/2020/06/01/the-uk-is-not-innocent-police-brutality-has-a-long-and-violent-history-here/.
“Population of England and Wales.” Accessed June 2, 2020. https://www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/uk-population-by-ethnicity/national-and-regional-populations/population-of-england-and-wales/latest.
[7] Amrani, Iman, and Angelique Chrisafis. “Adama Traoré’s Death in Police Custody Casts Long Shadow over French Society.” The Guardian, February 17, 2017, sec. World news. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/feb/17/adama-traore-death-in-police-custody-casts-long-shadow-over-french-society.
Diallo, Rokhaya. “When Will France Admit That Police Racism Is Systemic? | Rokhaya Diallo.” The Guardian, March 2, 2017, sec. Opinion. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/mar/02/france-police-racism-hashtag-activism.
[8] Parameswaran, R., & Cardoza, K. (2009) ‘Melanin on the Margins: Advertising and the Cultural Politics of Fair/Light/White Beauty in India,’ Journalism & Communication Monographs, Vol. 11, No. 3, pp. 213–274.
[9] Nagar, I. (2018) ‘The Unfair Selection: A Study on Skin-Color Bias in Arranged Indian Marriages’, SAGE Open, Vol. 8, No. 2
Thapar, R (1996) ‘The Theory of Aryan Race and India: History and Politics,’ Social Scientist, Vol. 24, No. 1/3., pp. 3-29.
Holmlund, C. A, (1991) ‘Displacing limits of difference: Gender, Race, and Colonialism in Edward Said and Homi Bhabha's theoretical models and Marguerite Duras's experimental films’, Quarterly Review of Film and Video, Vol.13, No. 1-3, pp. 1-22
[10] Rogers, R. A., (2006) ‘From Cultural Exchange to Transculturation: A Review and Reconceptualization of Cultural Appropriation,’ Communication Theory, Vol. 16, No. 4, pp. 474-503