George Floyd.

I find myself (as just another white privileged male) thinking about what is going on in the United States of America. With over 60,000 people having died of #Covid19 so far, the riots seem at odds to my United Kingdom. We are told to socially distance and yet there are thousands of people coming together to fight for their beliefs in spite of the risk.

It makes me think. I don’t know how I feel. I am sad that Mr Floyd’s life has ended, of course. I’m sad that it is at the hand of another ‘white’ policeman. I’m partially bemused by the repetitious nature of this incident. It feels like I’ve seen all this before.

The fact is, I have… we all have.

It’s got me thinking about racism, what it actually is. I don’t think we understand it at all. We seem to have this perception that racism is some kind of violent attack (physical or verbal) on someone who ‘looks’ different to ourselves. It’s not. I think it is much more nuanced than that. In most cases it’s much gentler than that. Yes, you heard me, I said that racism can be gentle, passive. Here lies the problem. We make it out to be so easy to remove the scourge of racism from our society, but the fact remains, it remains. It is there, it is not often violent or even identifiable, but it is there.

I don’t think that most people think they are racist, in fact they will often stand up against racism because it’s wrong, right? Of course it is. We can rationalise it and it’s very wrong yet it survives.

I don’t think it’s truly possible to understand racism unless you have been subject to it. I don’t mean being beaten or spat on or verbally abused. I mean simply being treated differently, being looked at in a certain way, being labelled, being pre judged.

Racism isn’t about the violence, that is just a disturbing consequence perpetrated by a minority. It is cultural, it is systemic and it is self perpetuating and lives in a strange situation where our denial to accept that it is more prevalent than we wish to believe, keeps a society from actually dealing with it.

It’s uncomfortable. My knee-jerk reaction is to deny it, even to myself… but am I then simply allowing it to continue?

I offer no solutions. I really don’t know what the solution is, if indeed there really is one to be had. Clearly something has to change but human nature and its insecurities will always get in the way.

By all means comment and give your point of view, I would love to hear from you. In the mean time my thoughts go to the family of George Floyd and those close to him left behind and I say that with the utmost sincerity.