Six weeks on from the widespread public outrage at the murder of George Floyd and the upsurge in support for #BlackLivesMatter, a crisis point has been reached. Will the tipping point leading to real and actual change be reached, or, as so many times in the past, will support ebb away as the news-cycle and headlines move on, and with them, the short-attention span of the public and politicians?
This article by Nesrine Malik, titled "It seems black lives don't matter quite so much, now that we've got to the hard bit" takes a pessimistic view, listing recent actions such as the BBC banning its hosts and presenters from "wearing Black Lives Matter badges because it is seen as an expression of some sort of 'political' opinion" as evidence of a reversion back to as we were. Malik states that protest is easy – the hard part is sustaining the movement after that first adrenalin rush to the point of first realising what real change will cost, systemically and for individuals, and then actually making it happen. Getting past that first hurdle may prove too difficult: "Everyone applauds a movement for social justice until it 'goes too far; – when it starts making 'unreasonable demands' in the service of its 'political agenda'"
"We have a great knack for supporting victims once the injustices are out in the open – when David and Goliath have been clearly identified, and a particularly British sensibility of fair play has been assailed." But... when it comes to the "underlying injustice – to making the links between the deportation and death of a Windrush citizen, the NHS worker impoverished by Home Office fees and unsettled by cruel hostile environment policies, the unelected special adviser breaking lockdown rules, and the political party we keep voting in – we’re not so good."
"The same is now happening with the Black Lives Matter movement. Everyone is on board with the principle, but when it comes to the change that is required, the idealistic passengers the movement picked up along the way suddenly come down with a case of extreme pragmatism. Part of the reason for their belated reluctance is that the course of actual change is unflashy. After the first moment passes, the supportive ally has nothing to show for their continued backing for the cause: there are no public high-fives for your continuing solidarity. You can’t post it, you can’t hashtag it; most of the time you can’t even do it without jeopardising something, whether that’s your income, status, job prospects or even friendships. But the main reason for the ebbing support is that change is just hard."
Read the full article here. And ask: Is this fading away inevitable? How do we keep the momentum going?
This article by Nesrine Malik, titled "It seems black lives don't matter quite so much, now that we've got to the hard bit" takes a pessimistic view, listing recent actions such as the BBC banning its hosts and presenters from "wearing Black Lives Matter badges because it is seen as an expression of some sort of 'political' opinion" as evidence of a reversion back to as we were. Malik states that protest is easy – the hard part is sustaining the movement after that first adrenalin rush to the point of first realising what real change will cost, systemically and for individuals, and then actually making it happen. Getting past that first hurdle may prove too difficult: "Everyone applauds a movement for social justice until it 'goes too far; – when it starts making 'unreasonable demands' in the service of its 'political agenda'"
"We have a great knack for supporting victims once the injustices are out in the open – when David and Goliath have been clearly identified, and a particularly British sensibility of fair play has been assailed." But... when it comes to the "underlying injustice – to making the links between the deportation and death of a Windrush citizen, the NHS worker impoverished by Home Office fees and unsettled by cruel hostile environment policies, the unelected special adviser breaking lockdown rules, and the political party we keep voting in – we’re not so good."
"The same is now happening with the Black Lives Matter movement. Everyone is on board with the principle, but when it comes to the change that is required, the idealistic passengers the movement picked up along the way suddenly come down with a case of extreme pragmatism. Part of the reason for their belated reluctance is that the course of actual change is unflashy. After the first moment passes, the supportive ally has nothing to show for their continued backing for the cause: there are no public high-fives for your continuing solidarity. You can’t post it, you can’t hashtag it; most of the time you can’t even do it without jeopardising something, whether that’s your income, status, job prospects or even friendships. But the main reason for the ebbing support is that change is just hard."
Read the full article here. And ask: Is this fading away inevitable? How do we keep the momentum going?
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