TW: Police brutality, racist violence, murder
Today marks 5 years since the murder of George Floyd – half a decade. We can remember the video like it was yesterday, and the pain we felt when we heard those terrible words “I can’t breathe”. George’s murder was a moment Black and Brown people fear – for ourselves and for our children. Watching his last moments – even though he was a stranger in another country – was like watching the murder of a brother, a father, or a friend. The truth is that he was not the first, and he was not the last. The video went viral, and because people had time and space to actually watch it and not express shock then scroll on by, a flame was lit across the US and the globe. It made people step up and act. What came after made anti-racism a household word, and the Black Lives Matter movement was galvanised and gained traction.
Five years on, where has that got us?
Last week, “Backlash: The Murder of George Floyd” was shown on the BBC exploring what happened in 2020, and where we are five years later. The film is available on iPlayer, but if you choose to watch please be aware that despite multiple triggers (snippets of George’s last moments are shown throughout) there is no signposting for support or an acknowledgement that some people will be ‘affected by the programme’. This is the bare minimum, and it’s absence speaks to how little the impact racial trauma has on us – individually and collectively – is recognised. It’s a heavy watch so please think about how resourced you are feeling.
It’s where we wanted to start our reflection because the words of the director, Kwabena Oppong, really encapsulate the current landscape:
“The shockwaves of George Floyd’s murder in May 2020 became a catalyst for change worldwide – or so it seemed. Over the past five years, we’ve seen progress and growth, but also a growing backlash. Behind everything we consume on TV, in the news, and on social media, there’s a deeper story”.
We wish we could do a positive post about how far we’ve come, but we need to be brutally honest. Over the past year in particular there has been a massive regression when it comes to anti-racist change.
Last August we witnessed the biggest watershed moment since George Floyd’s murder as the country was rocked by fascist, Islamophobic, anti-Black and anti-migrant rioting. You might have thought that this would have pushed the dial forward and shown that we need anti-racist action, and we need it now.
The truth is that the response to the rioting has taken us back years. It’s created a convenient excuse, a way to deny the need for anti-racist change. The bar has dropped so low it’s on the ground. Suddenly to be considered racist or part of the problem you need to be out on the streets attacking refugee accommodation, or called Stephen Yaxley-Lenon (Tommy Robinson). The renewed focus on institutional and systemic racism which came out of the murder of George Floyd and the re-galvanisation of the Black Lives Matter movement has faded away – a fad that’s no longer in fashion.
We see it in grant funding, in the diminishing requests from organisations for anti-racism training and the uphill struggle for sponsorship and donations. We see our education system turning away from it and our health system turning its back on it. The private sector no longer bothers with even its most performative acts of Black squares and wear red to work days.
Across the pond, those within the Trump administration have called for George Floyd’s murderer to be pardoned and released from prison. The nature of Trump’s government means that people in the UK are able to point to Trump, MAGA and the US as ‘the real racists’, absolving themselves of having to take a look at themselves. Too many are having to spend precious energy defending basic EDI initiatives despite the fact it’s clear they will only ever scratch the surface when it comes to the deep-rooted problem of racism.
Sometimes we find ourselves voicing out loud in disbelief: why are we going backwards? But deep down we know the answer, and we aren’t surprised.
This fight isn’t new, and we are a small part of a much longer legacy of anti-racism in this country. The Mangrove Nine, The New Cross Fire, Brixton Uprising, Bristol Bus Boycott…not to mention countless resistances across history.
Some of the biggest moments, such as the murder of Stephen Lawrence, STILL haven’t translated into full action. 1998 was the year the Macpherson Report identified institutional racism in the police force. That’s 27 years ago. The 2023 Casey Report had to once again call out not only the same levels of institutional racism, but misogyny and homophobia too.
This is what white supremacy does – it shifts, it changes, it hides. Because how many more reports do we need? How many more statistics? How many more deaths?
Five years on, we remember George Floyd and every single Black or Brown person in the UK and the US who has been the victim of police institutional racism. Whose preventable abuse and deaths have not been acknowledged or acted upon.
We remember Julian Cole, who died in March this year after being in a minimally conscious state for 11 years after he was violently arrested by Bedfordshire police in 2013.
We remember Chris Kaba. Shot dead by a police officer in 2022 during a police pursuit. A man who did not fit the ‘perfect victim’ narrative which meant many people felt his death was justifiable and his life didn’t matter.
We remember Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman who, after they were murdered in a London park, were subjected to two police officers taking selfies with their dead bodies and sharing it on a WhatsApp group.
We remember them all.
We ask you to remember them and we ask you to step up. Driving forward anti-racism right now is an uphill battle. If your action has fizzled out, hear us when we say: we need you to be part of the change.
Rest In Eternal Power George and all of you 🖤
