{"id":43034,"date":"2020-12-10T15:26:40","date_gmt":"2020-12-10T15:26:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thevoiceoflondon.co.uk\/?p=43034"},"modified":"2020-12-10T15:26:40","modified_gmt":"2020-12-10T15:26:40","slug":"police-brutality-systemic-racism-what-else","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/police-brutality-systemic-racism-what-else\/","title":{"rendered":"As Europe faces racial reckoning, police forces called into question"},"content":{"rendered":"

Alone and late at night, Ninon Cipolli, 25, a girl who has witnessed a burglary happen outside her building, in Vincennes, France and believed the best decision was to call the police. Prepared to give out her address so they could send a patrol her way, she was taken aback by their reaction.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Back in early January, <\/span>a pandemic has hit the world<\/span><\/a>, stripping everyone of their freedom to socialise as normal. But not only was the world hit by a deadly virus, it decided to speak out and point out the brutalities around the world inflicted by police forces.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Black Lives Matter, a movement reflecting the world and people\u2019s fatigue to be victimised as objects and considered as less worthy and valuable than others because of their skin colour. But if you have been in a cocoon, here is a more delicate and wordy definition of what the movement is all about. It is a political and social movement advocating for non-violent civil disobedience in protest against police brutality and all racially motivated violence against Black people. We can only remember some of the faces of those <\/span>who lost their lives<\/span><\/a> to the hands of police forces this year.<\/span><\/p>\n

People are speaking up more than ever and are taking actions to remedy the systemic racism, wondering whether racism and police brutality have always been this high in numbers or whether this past year has particularly been challenging for police forces. It is \u201comnipresent within the police itself,\u201d Ninon says with an annoyed and tired-of-the-situation tone.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Systemic racism is a way to describe the diminishing of ethnic minorities by favouring white superiority thinking at a systems level in daily life. It can be assumed individually, ideologically and institutionally.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

– 20 years after Damilola Taylor\u2019s killing
\n–\u00a0<\/a>#BLM: where are we now?<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Peggy McIntosh, an anti-racism activist, created a quiz called\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cinvisible knapsack\u201d<\/span><\/a>\u00a0 to help people understand the systemic nature of racism by looking at white privileges and how people of colour may experience society differently.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI have come to see white privilege as an invisible package of unearned assets that I can count on cashing in each day, but about which I was \u2018meant\u2019 to remain oblivious,\u201d McIntosh tells the Voice of London.<\/span><\/p>\n

Racism is not only one\u2019s issue. The Black Lives Matter movement has made clear that for systemic injustices to be eradicated, we must point out those issues when they happen in order to not only have an ethical and fair representation of society but also to hold accountable the dominant culture.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Why not White?<\/h2>\n

Ninon, on the phone with the police, expecting to be asked where she lived and whether she was able to identify the vehicle\u2019s licence plate, rather she was asked whether she could identify the burglars \u2013 Black, Arab, Latino or Asian\u2026 \u201cThey did not even ask whether it was a Caucasian person,\u201d she says.<\/span><\/p>\n

“It speaks for itself about systemic racism within the police. It is a perfect illustration of what the system is like.”<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Photo by Ninon Cipolli<\/p><\/div>\n

Twenty minutes passed, and there was still no sign of any police car. She started wondering what was going on, \u201cwhether they thought it was a joke or not as serious of an issue as it actually was.\u201d She took it upon herself to call them back as she wondered if the police were taking her cry for help seriously. She gave the details of what was happening again. She reminded us that at the time, she lived in a quiet and peaceful area. The nearest police station was three minutes from her flat, but twenty minutes had passed and there was still no sign of help.<\/span><\/p>\n

Three police officers arrived about 40 minutes later and she was concerned that they would not be of much help.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey hung around for a while, checked the building in front of me and after roughly an hour of them being here, they went. I decided to call them back and find out what had happened as I wasn\u2019t reassured at all.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey responded that the van wasn\u2019t the one used for the burglary and that the guy they had found there wasn\u2019t the burglar, even though they hadn\u2019t checked his identity, nor his van\u2019s licence plate.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As a woman, whose flatmates weren’t home, she was worried and she says she has lost faith in her local police force to protect her and her neighbours.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the UK, there is a disparity between people who trust and do not trust the police forces.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Police brutality has been condemned and pointed out more than ever this year – how trustful are you of the police forces?<\/p>\n

— Voice Of London UK (@VoiceOfLondonUK) December 3, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n