Posts Tagged: BLM

Who is Responsible for Partisan Violence?

Who is Responsible for Partisan Violence?

Despite the last few years witnessing sweeping and hopeful social justice movements such as #MeToo, Black Lives Matter, climate strikes, and repeated protests against deportation efforts, instances of hate crime and discrimination in England are far from declining. COVID-19 had a particularly compounding effect in not only increasing violence against women, girls and minorities, but …

What does Instagram activism do, anyway?

What does Instagram activism do, anyway?

Is sharing Instagram graphics an important way of organising and educating, or an exercise in performative wokeness? Instagram, the land of brunch photos and fitness bloggers, has not always been a political platform. But, in the last year, with the increasing online visibility of the Black Lives Matter movement, the app has seen a boom …

Post-Colonial U.K.: The Denial of Racism and the Whitewashing of British History

Post-Colonial U.K.: The Denial of Racism and the Whitewashing of British History

The U.K., now considered to be in post-colonial times, has ostensibly left behind its racist legacy. However, placing the U.K.’s imperial history entirely in the past neglects the relics of imperialism imbued in U.K. society, exhibited through the exclusionary and racist narratives that permeate U.K.’s society today. Protestors targeting statues of important imperial figures as …

The Misuse of the Label “Terrorist”: How governments label people as terrorists without charging a crime of terrorism

The Misuse of the Label “Terrorist”: How governments label people as terrorists without charging a crime of terrorism

The Capitol riots in the U.S. on 6 January 2021 led to outcries from many well-intentioned citizens from both parties to label the white supremacist extremists that stormed the U.S. Capitol as terrorists. Joe Biden, the President-Elect at the time, echoed these claims dubbing the rioters “domestic terrorists”.  Indeed, White people are often not held …

George Floyd, a year on: has any progress been made?

George Floyd, a year on: has any progress been made?

Whilst the British public wake up to the realities of racism, the government are reluctant to pursue real change. Over a year has passed since George Floyd was murdered by a police officer on the 25th of May 2020, sparking a summer of protests and a global conversation about anti-Black racism. Floyd’s death became a …

Why pitting BAME communities against the ‘white working class’ misses the point about inequality

Why pitting BAME communities against the ‘white working class’ misses the point about inequality

The UK government’s rejection of anti-racism in favour of tackling socioeconomic equality presents a false choice that ignores intersectional struggles. “There is no such thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives” – Audre Lorde In December 2020, Liz Truss, the Minister for Women and Equalities, delivered a speech outlining a …

Is there a ‘hate crime crisis’ in English football?

Is there a ‘hate crime crisis’ in English football?

A recent ‘wave’ of racist abuse against players highlights a persisting culture of discrimination. In 2011, then-head of FIFA Sepp Blatter controversially claimed that “there is no racism” in football, arguing that football has “moved on” from the relentless and often violent racism of the 1970s and 1980s. However, racist chants and taunts from the …