Black Lives Matter erupts in the U.K.
Black Lives Matter U.K. is gaining steam in the United Kingdom, as protesters are coming out against institutionalized racism and its wide-ranging effects.
Black Lives Matter U.K. is gaining steam in the United Kingdom, as protesters are coming out against institutionalized racism and its wide-ranging effects.
While the United Kingdom does not have the same problem as the United States in terms of the scale of police brutality, with just 30 people killed in interactions with police officers, two of which were non-white, protesters for Black Lives Matter U.K. are still coming out to protest the heavy impact of racism on black lives. From the use of force in police custody to the impact of global warming, Black Lives Matter U.K. is making sure the effects of racism are seen.
“We’re not trying to compare ourselves to the U.S.,” said Natalie Jeffers, the BLMUK spokeswoman. “What we’re trying to do is highlight the fact that there is a disproportional impact on black people in the U.K. when they come in contact with the state or those agents of the state.”
“We don’t live single issue lives and so there’s no single-issue solution,” Jeffers told NBC News. “The direct action Black Lives Matter U.K. is taking is to stop ‘business as usual’ and … to bring truth to the narratives that we’re being told.”
One of the issues Black Lives Matter U.K. brings up in which they feel the United Kingdom is lagging behind the United States is employment, with the U.K. showing much less diversity in top jobs, they claim.
“America has a harsher version of racism than Britain,” said Dr. Kehinde Andrews, an associate professor in sociology at Britain’s Birmingham City University. “But all the issues still exist here, just on a different scale.”
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