Do Black Lives Matter in 2022?
Two years on from the tragic murder of George Floyd, Covfeed reporter Phoebe Lewin explores why the relationship between ethnic minorities and the police has never been worse.
ɢᴇᴏʀɢᴇ ꜰʟᴏʏᴅ ᴘʀᴏᴛᴇꜱᴛꜱ. ᴄʀᴇᴅɪᴛ: ʀᴇᴠᴏʟᴜᴛɪᴏɴ ᴡᴇꜱᴛ ᴍɪᴅʟᴀɴᴅꜱ ᴏɴ ɪɴꜱᴛᴀɢʀᴀᴍ
There has been a 26 per cent increase in hate crimes recorded according to latest data.
The information from GOV.UK shows that there were 155,841 hate crimes recorded by police. More than two thirds of those crimes concerned the issue of race.
There was a 12 per cent increase in race-related hate crimes in the year of George Floyd's death and the Black Lives Matter protests. In previous years, majority of hate crimes in England and Wales were racially motivated, with over 85,000 recorded. At the end of 2021, there were over 92,000 recorded by the police.
In 2020, the public showed their outpouring of support by taking part in protests and on social media where millions of users around the world posted a black screen with the hashtag #blackouttuesday on Instagram to show their solidarity.
ꜱᴄʀᴇᴇɴꜱʜᴏᴛ: ᴘᴏꜱᴛꜱ ᴏꜰ ʙʟᴀᴄᴋ ꜱᴄʀᴇᴇɴꜱ ᴡɪᴛʜ ɪɴꜱᴛᴀɢʀᴀᴍ ʜᴀꜱʜᴛᴀɢ #ʙʟᴀᴄᴋᴏᴜᴛᴛᴜᴇꜱᴅᴀʏ
But even though the black community gets all this support from people across the globe, what are the reasons for a year-on-year increase in bias crime?
It takes twice as long for an offence to be flagged as a hate crime, compared to other crimes so it is likely that many of these offences are not recorded.
ᴀʟᴀʀᴍɪɴɢ ᴅᴀᴛᴀ ꜰᴏᴜɴᴅ ᴀᴄʀᴏꜱꜱ ᴇɴɢʟᴀɴᴅ ᴀɴᴅ ᴡᴀʟᴇꜱ.
Considering the possibility that not all racially-motivated hate crimes have been recorded, it is important to mention the number of BAME people who have died at the hands of police.
From 1990 to present day, a total of 205 BAME deaths (including those in custody and as a result of police brutality) were recorded in England and Wales.
Police duty is to enforce laws, but campaigning charity Inquest says, "The proportion of BAME deaths in custody where restraint is a feature is over two times greater than it is in other deaths in custody".
So why are police so regularly responsible for the fatal moments if their job is to prevent crime?
Over the years, a long list of black people have been killed by police. But the murder of George Floyd in the USA was the tragedy that shook the world.
In 2020, a video was shared across social media. It showed a policeman with his knee across the neck of George Floyd for 9 minutes, and 26 seconds as he fought for his life. Mr Floyd was a black man who was not resisting arrest.
It was clear that the police officer was abusing his power, as law enforcements are obliged to not break the law, but they did this anyway.
Following the global social media post, the Black Lives Matter movement was stirred into action by making protests and spreading awareness that there is systemic racism within the police force.
ɢᴇᴏʀɢᴇ ꜰʟᴏʏᴅ ᴛʀɪʙᴜᴛᴇ. ᴘʜᴏᴛᴏ ꜰʀᴏᴍ ᴜɴꜱᴘʟᴀꜱʜ
The USA police force was called to reform by protesters in an attempt to tackle systemic racism.
The IAPC (International Association of Chiefs of Police) website has a page on bias-free policing which states its purpose is to "emphasise this agency’s commitment to fair and bias-free treatment of all people and to clarify the circumstances in which agency personnel may consider specified characteristics when carrying out duties."
Simply, this means that the USA law enforcement is working on being unbiased. It could be argued that this should've been worked on years ago by the police force. But in the UK, how has the police force responded?
The National Police Chief's Council is so concerned about the rise they have launched a race action plan.
National Police Chief’s Council Chair, Martin Hewitt said:
"The global focus on negative race disparities in the wake of George Floyd's death led UK police leaders to reaffirm their commitment to tackle racism wherever it is found. The legitimacy of UK policing is built on relationships between the police and the public, but levels of trust and confidence are significantly lower among some Black people and racial disparities exist that we cannot fully explain. We are in the process of developing a plan of action to build a more inclusive police service and address negative race disparities.
The Police Plan of Action on Inclusion and Race is being led by the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) and the College of Policing, with partners from across policing, including Police and Crime Commissioners and staff associations. A supporting programme will run for at least two years to deliver the plan of action."
The question is, are these reforms working? It is likely that the answer is no. What do the protesters think?
In an interview with Daniel Smith, co-founder of Revolution West Midlands, a group aimed at tackling systemic and institutional racism, he said: "Although things have changed, there's still a lot more work to be done. The key difference between racism in the USA and in the UK is that the UK racism is more systemic and it’s not portrayed on a wider basis.”
Daniel also gave the example of Chris Kaba's death, a young black man who was recently shot in south London by a police officer and said there were "no repercussions" for this.
This death begs the question:
What has really changed from 2020? Did police officers in the UK learn anything?
It seems that the USA isn't the only country that needs to improve.
The relationship between ethnic minorities and the police is weakening. There have been countless cases of police doing the wrong thing, and the victim of this malpractice "coincidentally" being a black person or someone with an ethnic minority background.
Regardless of age, it is argued that any black person could be affected. For example, the Child Q scandal was another national topic in the UK that the Metropolitan Police was accountable for.
In March of this year, we found out that four female police officers were being investigated for strip-searching a 15-year-old black girl who was wrongly accused of handling drugs back in 2020. This caused a lot of protests because it was deeply inappropriate for the 15-year-old.
For it to take two years for light to be shed on this issue is a disappointment for the teenage girl and her family.
If this were to happen to someone else of a different race, would it have been handled faster?
Relationships between law enforcement officers and ethnic minority groups are weakening, not just because of the deaths or trauma that they have caused, but because of their treatment towards BAME people who have needed their support.
Stephen Lawrence is another example of someone who needed support from the police force. But the way they handled his murder in 1993 led to an inquiry into police policies.
He was murdered by a gang of white men in a racist attack, while he and his friend were waiting for the bus. His friend was left unharmed, while he died at the age of only 18 years old.
Despite a lengthy fight for justice from his family and friends, the Metropolitan Police did not handle the investigation well. They charged a few people for the murder but dropped the charges before a trial could happen.
It took many years of trying to find a suspect, but in August 2020 the Metropolitan police declared the investigation "inactive".
In the many months and years that followed Stephen's murder, his parents kept fighting for justice for their son.
Many people believed the police treated Stephen's case differently because he was black.
In 1999, a big inquiry into his murder and the police investigation was held, and it found that the Metropolitan Police were 'institutionally racist'.
In 2012, two original suspects were found guilty for Stephen’s murder and sent to prison.
The Stephen Lawrence Foundation introduced a day to remember his death, on April 22nd every year where tributes were made.
The foundation has the aim of inspiring "a more equal, inclusive society, and to foster opportunities for marginalised young people in the UK".
It was thought that lessons would have been learned from the Stephen Lawrence case. The MacPherson report came out with 70 recommendations for the law enforcement to change to prevent further mishandled cases.
These reforms made people believe that there would be changes, but the growth in cases of hate crime proves that it is still very difficult.
We know that black lives do matter, but the next few years will make us question:
Will the future ever be bright for black people?
Phoebe will be hosting a Twitter space at 1:30pm on Thursday, December 8th to discuss the impact the findings have made on people in society. Contact her via Twitter @_phoebelewin and Instagram @phoebethebroadcaster for any questions about this work.