Feature: Black Lives Matter

The Pandemic of Racism

If you’ve been paying attention to the news recently, you’ll know that, alongside the global pandemic, the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement has dominated the headlines. In the current political climate, the pandemic of racism runs as rampant as the coronavirus.

Last month, I spoke with Malcolm King, a highschool English teacher in West Lothian - originally from Sierra Leone - about his experiences of racism, and his thoughts on the BLM movement.

On 25th May 2020, a Black man, George Floyd, was arrested and killed by four policemen in Minneapolis, for allegedly using a counterfeit bill. His death represents a cacophony of Black people who have died at the hands of state violence and police brutality. Yet something about his story sparked an unprecedented surge of activism for the BLM movement. Since his death, millions of people have flocked to the streets in protest, not just in the United States, but across the globe.

Malcolm’s daughter attended one of these protests in Glasgow in June 2020. He told me: “

The whole movement is about trying to address an imbalance that exists and has existed for a long time.” After asking Malcolm to explain more about his experiences of this ‘imbalance’, he shared with me a deeply tragic story about his friend, Sheku Bayoh, who was killed by policemen in Kirkcaldy in 2015.

“When you get the phone call to say ‘Sheku Bayoh has been killed’. You sit there and say ‘what does that mean?’ I remember telling my friend from Sierra Leone that Sheku had been killed by the police, and you’re thinking, that doesn’t make any sense because we live in Scotland. What does that mean?”

Sheku Bayoh had allegedly taken drugs when he was arrested in Kirkcaldy. Nine police officers arrived on the scene , tackled him to the ground and restrained him. After falling unconscious, Sheku Bayoh was taken to hospital and pronounced dead - he had 23 injuries.

Malcolm described the shock and distress he felt, while his daughter sobbed in Sheku’s livingroom. “

Even the night we got there, the article that was in the press about the killing, was so skewed. The narrative they pushed was how this extremely big, black man had attacked a female police officer… And of course, I’m an English teacher, you understand spin, you understand how they’re playing with words. But what got me the most was the article written about it more or less saying that their thoughts were with the family of the police officer. And I’m thinking, but somebody has died here.”

Devastated by his death, Sheku’s family and friends protested against the injustice of his murder.

“It got to a point where we used to go over there everyday, we marched, we demonstrated, we spoke. And then we went through to Glasgow. People spoke, for example relatives of Black men who have died in police custody in the UK, and we heard their testimonies. And then of course you google their names and you see, oh my god this has happened in so many places.”

This pandemic of racism, systemic oppression and police brutality is happening here. At times it may feel far away in the United States, but make no mistake: it is right here in our country too. As the BBC stated, ‘Sheku Bayoh is not George Floyd and Kirkcaldy is not Minneapolis, but there are striking parallels in both these deaths.’

Malcolm went on to describe the helplessness he feels when people dismiss the Black Lives Matter movement, when they are faced with such incontrovertible evidence of systemic racism.

“Some people do refuse to see it…it’s like you’re screaming underwater and nobody really hears you…you can’t seem to win at times.” Too often Black people are told their experiences aren’t real. And sadly, the Black Lives Matter movement has experienced a lot of backlash from White people. Yet, Malcolm repeatedly told me:

“There is hope.”

The reason behind the BLM movement is both horrible and tragic. However, the fact that these protests are happening across the world is positive.

“If you think about the American Civil Rights Movement for example in the 60s, or Rodney King in the early 90s, I don’t think any of those have been a size as big as this. It has resonated right across the world…And we’re already seeing changes.”

Indeed, due to the surge of protests and petitions calling for justice for George Floyd, the police officer who kneeled on George Floyd’s neck until death has been arrested and charged with murder.

“I think you need to keep on demonstrating, you need to keep on marching - peacefully, of course - because that’s the only way you can get things to change. I mean I’m even looking at these cops who have been charged. That’s a step in the right direction…But it takes time for these changes to take place. It really does take time.”

There have been victories, but the BLM movement is far from over. There is still justice to be found for countless other Black people who have died at the hands of systemic racism, and race-based violence.

“Sheku Bayoh for example, we don’t even know the name of the cops who killed him, nobody knows. You cannot do that to somebody and have immunity.”

This injustice is happening here. But, the fact that people are talking about this, that I’m writing this and you’re reading it, means there is hope. Things will change - if enough people act. Educate yourself and those around you. Check your unconscious bias. Sign the petitions. Attend the protests, if it’s safe to do so. We need everyone on board.

This article was written by Cara McKeown. Cara is a former Balerno High School pupil who is going on to study a Publishing Masters at Edinburgh Napier University. She is a Social Anthropology graduate and intersectional feminist interested in bachata dancing, painting, and yoga.