On Tuesday, four police officers were fired after footage was released evidencing the unnecessarily brutal arrest of 46-year old George Floyd the evening prior. His arrest was on the grounds of using forged cheques at a local drugstore. Bystanders recording the incident reported that Floyd repeatedly said: “I can’t breathe.” However, the officer kneeling on his neck refused to stop, continuing to hold him down for more than five minutes. As a result, Floyd died. His death was not a split-second misjudgement on the part of the officer, nor an act of self-defence. And as hundreds take to the streets to protest the murder of yet another person of colour at the hands of white police officers, one must wonder if justice will ever be served.

Sadly, Floyd’s story is not the first of its kind. In fact, it is just the latest in a prolonged series of instances in which police have used unnecessary and unprovoked force to confront people of colour. Monday’s death is eerily similar to that of Eric Garner, six years earlier. Garner, an asthmatic father of six, was arrested in Staten Island, New York, on suspicion of illegally selling loose cigarettes. A minor offence, this is punishable by fines of up to $2000 (£1620). But Garner paid a much higher price as an NYPD officer used a banned chokehold to restrain him until he lost consciousness. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Officer Pantaleo, responsible for Garner’s death, was required to step down from the police force but not convicted of any criminal charges.

Over the past few months, there have been several cases like this, including Breonna Taylor, 26, and Ahmaud Arbery, 25, both shot dead. Both black; both innocent. Taylor was killed by eight shots fired when police entered her home in Louisville, USA, with a drug search warrant. The suspect they were looking for was neither present nor did he live in Taylor’s building. It was later revealed that he was already in police custody. Meanwhile, the two men found guilty of murdering Ahmaud Arbery were Gregory McMichael, a retired law enforcement officer, and his son Travis. Two calls to 911 dispatchers demonstrate that he was targeted by racial bias. Out for his daily jog in Georgia, USA, he was reported as a “black male running down the street”. It was a weak reason to report him to the police. But the McMichaels did more than report Arbery – they shot and killed him. And the perpetrators were not arrested for another two months. What message does this send to people of colour and the racist agenda that deprives them of their right to live without fear of persecution, or worse?

How many more black lives will be lost before authorities take accountability for the systemic racism rife throughout the ranks? How many more Trayvon Martin’s will it take to show that #BlackLivesMatter? Documentaries on the Central Park Five, Oscar Grant and Michael Brown highlight the ubiquity of racial injustice in the criminal justice system. But how many more will it take to change that? Despite clear evidence of racialised police brutality, we still fail to protect the lives of the Floyds, Arberys and Taylors because recognising the problem is not enough to prevent it. In the same way, acknowledging that the four officers that enacted Floyd’s arrest were ultimately responsible for his death is not enough. Firing said officers for their involvement does not substantiate their accountability. No person should get away with kneeling on the neck of another human being, regardless of the colour of their skin, or the status of their badge. Though the officer has now been arrested and charged with murder, this only happened after several days of protests across America and video evidence being slathered across social media.

The institutionalised racism endemic undermines the very concepts of law, order and authority. If we cannot trust in these principles, the fundamental blocks on which our society is built begin to fail. The law is supposed to protect all people from harm. It is not supposed to facilitate further oppression, nor protect oppressors from facing the consequences of their overtly aggressive actions. Munroe Bergdorf questions this: “How long are we going to keep going round in circles? When are people going to realise that the entire the [sic] law and order system is built by, funded by, regulated by and for the profit and benefit of white society – at the expense of black lives?” She questions what the disproportionately high number of BAME groups says about the justice system. Despite only comprising 13.4 per cent of the US population, black people make up 37.9 per cent of inmates. This huge disparity supports claims that every aspect of the criminal justice system is tainted with racial prejudice. From officers using racial profiling to target potential suspects, to the predominantly white juries seen in courtrooms, to the acquittal of perpetrators of hate crimes.

It is time to question the priorities of authorities that treat prisons as privatised businesses with targets. What are the implications of this for people of colour? By disproportionately targeting African Americans in order to fulfil prison quotas, supporting the conservative shareholders that own the prisons and disadvantaging the black community, the current law and order system expedites white supremacy motives. The justice system should be about serving justice, not making money. Equally, tackling institutional racism transcends politics. Prioritising an anti-racism agenda should be commonplace irrespective of the party in power. Racism is a basic civil rights issue and should be treated as such. So it is disappointing that 11 years ago, America elected its first African American president, whilst today the White House is inhabited by a man who called the exoneration and financial settlement of the Central Park Five a “disgrace”. The influence of politics and economics on the criminal justice system enables institutionalised racism, which many never question as it does not affect them personally.

Western society primarily considers itself to be ‘developed’, yet people of colour experience prejudice and racism every single day. In 1964, Malcolm X questioned the American justice system in his “Democracy is Hypocrisy” speech. So why, 56 years later, is racism still facilitated by the law and order system that is supposedly designed to protect us? Everyone has a right to be treated the same in the eyes of the justice system, everyone has a right to be protected by law enforcement. But the continuum of stories like George Floyd’s proves that this right has been racialised. It is time to do something about this. It is no longer a matter of recognising that people of colour are targeted by hate crimes and institutional racism. Systemic racism amidst the US police force has been called to question hundreds of times. Now it is time for action.

However, the obligation to fight for black lives to matter should not fall only to the black community. We all have a duty to acknowledge the issue and speak up to show the authorities that we do not support the murder of black ‘suspects’ by white police officers. We all need to educate ourselves on racism and criticise the institutions that enable it. We need more conversations on race in which white people start actually listening to people of colour and stop being passive on the matter of race. Recognise your privilege and responsibility to become a better ally. For if you choose not to be an ally, if – in spite of your obviously advantaged position – you choose to take a passive stance on the matter of racism, you side with the oppressor and facilitate the oppression of minority groups. If we do not begin to question it, we justify law and order’s discrimination against people of colour. Because, as it stands, the justice system remains plainly unjust.

How many more black lives will be lost at the hands of institutionalised racism?

illustrations by @zsofimayer

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