Slave ownership

In July John Lewis, a black senator in the United States House of Representatives passed away, he was 80 years of age. John Lewis was a forceful campaigner for equal rights in the United States almost all of his life and with Martin Luther King and others founded the Civil Rights Movement early in the 1960s. He helped to organise the Selma to Montgomery marches that lead to the voting rights act of 1965. This was the precursor to the continuing fight against racism and the injustices against its ethnic American people. After five decades these inhuman acts are still being carried out.

Black Americans were subjected to racism for over 400 years as a result of the Atlantic slave trade. They were made to work in the cotton fields, on farms, in factories and as domestic servants for their slave masters. The American slave trade ended in 1865 following the end of the civil war between the North and the south. But slavery did not end in 1865 across the US, as Southerners wanted to hold on to their slaves and there was some resistance to abolition.

The death and murder of George Floyd (a black Afro American man) on 25 May 2020 on the streets of Minneapolis, Minnesota by a white police officer, resulted in demonstrations in the streets all across the major cities. George did not commit any criminal offence, yet he was handcuffed, held down on the street where a police officer applied his knee to the neck of Mr Floyd, to the point where he was struggling to breathe, he was held in that position for nearly nine minutes. He died from police action.

Trayvon Martin (a 17 year old black Afro American youth) was fatally shot by George Zimmerman on the 26February 2012. Trayvon was unarmed and did not commit any criminal or illegal act. He was innocently walking the street near his home in Florida. George Zimmerman appeared in a Florida court to stand trial for the murder of Trayvon. In court he claimed that he acted in self-defence and was acquitted of all charges.

In July 2014 Eric Garner was arrested by a white New York police officer on suspicion of selling illegal cigarettes. He died after he was wrestled to the ground by the same officer. The medical report at the trial of Officer Daniel Panteleo stated that Eric Garner died from asthma caused by the officer’s chokehold.

Police homicides against black people are more prevalent in the United States of America than anywhere else in the Western world. There have been similar cases in the UK and France, but these numbers are low by comparison.

UK fatalities

Mark Duggan, a 29 year old British citizen of Jamaican parentage, was shot and killed by police in Tottenham, North London on the 4 August 2011. An inquest was held on Duggan’s death and on 8 January 2014 declared that it was lawful. There were protest in a number of English cities following his death, but his family and a wider group are still suspicious of the police over this killing.

In the UK young black men are subjected to a stop and search policy by police and it is carried out disproportionately.

The Murder of Stephen Lawrence

The murder of Stephen Lawrence on the 22 April 1993 in Eltham, South East London was an act of racism. Stephen was waiting with his friend Dwayne at a bus stop when he was attacked and chased by five white youths. He was murdered while trying to escape his attackers. It took a very long time before anyone was brought to court to face trial for his murder. After the initial investigation five suspects were arrested but were released without charge. A public inquiry in 1998 headed by Sir William Macpherson examined the original police investigation and found that the force was institutionally racist. This case was probably the most highly debated of its kind in modern times and took the intervention of the government of the time and a change of law that resulted in a successful prosecution. Two men were sent to prison for the manslaughter of Stephen.

Black Lives Matter emerged after the acquittal of George Zimmerman and the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mississippi and Eric Garner in New York. It has become a global network and is committed to fight for justice and freedom for black people. A recent research poll has found that the majority of Americans across all racial and ethnic groups have expressed support for the movement.

In any society within the industrialised western countries, the majority of black people fall within the lower echelons of the economic pyramid. There are more likely to be employed in the lowest paid and less skilful jobs. Where they are employed in what can be called decent jobs (large office based companies) they are more than likely to be on the bottom rung of the management ladder and in the 250 FTSE companies black representation is even less visible.

Change will come but it is taking a very long time. But it can be done through education, a desire to correct the wrongs that have been done in the past and a commitment to eradicate racism.

Walter Rodney (Guyanese) wrote: “The role of slavery in promoting prejudice and ideology has been carefully studied in certain situations especially in the USA. But the simple fact is that no people can enslave another for four centuries, without coming out with a notion of superiority.”

Dr Eric Williams Ex-Prime Minister of Trinidad Tobago argues that a racial twist is basically an economic phenomenon. Slavery was not born of racism; racism was the consequence of slavery.

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