Anyone who still does not understand the BLM movement should seek out and listen to Mina Smallman's account - in full - of how the Metropolitan Police dealt with the murder of her two daughters.
Mina Smallman became worried when she couldn't contact them after they had gone to a party, so about 48 hours later she called the police. After she had given them addresses and names, etc. she became convinced that the police showed very little interest. She also became convinced that this was because she was black. Whether or not this was true is beside the point. The point is that this is what she believed from many different past experiences.
She sent out a small party to search for her daughters, and by the time they reached the scene the police had found the bodies and removed them. The party of friends searched the area and within 10 minutes they had found the murder weapon. It was clear that the police had not even made a preliminary search of the murder scene.
As if this wasn't an unspeakable thing to happen to any mother, a police official turned up to Mina's house to tell her that the two police officers who found the bodies had posed for smiling selfies next to her dead daughters, and then posted the pictures on to others via social media. In Mina's words it was like they were posing with their foot on the body of a dead lion, shot as a trophy.
If you say that these police officers were just two bad apples in the barrel, then you continue to miss the point. The fact that these men thought they could get away with this appalling and disgusting behaviour shows that there is - without doubt - a toxic undercurrent of institutional racism in the Metropolitan Police. They would not have done this with white girls.
Mina Smallman happens to be an eloquent and intelligent woman who can obviously control her grief and anger so well that she was able to give a long and illuminating interview to the BBC without breaking down like most of us would, otherwise this story would surely have been watered-down to protect the reputation of the Met.
I have tried to get the full interview, but so far it is not out there. I really think everyone should hear her to get a better understanding of what it is like to be a black person in modern Britain. It gave me a glimpse.
That is indeed an appalling episode that Mina Smallman had to endure and highlights why the BLM movement needs the support of us all in continuing to stamp out this institutional racism and to achieve an equality between all people. I certainly support most of what they are trying to do.
ReplyDeleteHowever, two points - "they would not have done this with white girls" is an assumption that has not been proven. What I cannot support in the BLM struggles, is their determination to erase large chunks of our British history by removing statues, etc.. It is history and should remain so, today's inequalities are what BLM should be concentrating on.
Alright then. Can you imagine two white police officers photographing the bodies of two white, female murder victims at the scene of the crime and then posting the pictures up on WhatsApp or Facebook? Do you think that would be likely? It is a good thing that it cannot be proven.
DeleteI have never heard that the BLM movement's aim is to erase large chunks of British history - just the opposite. I have always understood that they want to shine a spotlight into the dark corners of British history to bring it into the open. Pulling down statues of slavers seems to me to be a way of showing how British history has glossed-over the past by celebrating dignitaries who have profited from the slave trade, or is that too simplistic?
Like I said, they should be concentrating on changing what is happening to them today, not worrying about long past history that cannot be changed. Trouble understanding that?
DeleteYou seem to be having a bit of trouble understanding your own point about 'erasing large chunks of our British history' and how to go about it.
DeleteTearing down statues seems to me akin to looting - it's trespassing and taking or destroying what belongs to others. There can be a better way. If someone wanted to make things better, committing a crime isn't the answer. In the last go-round, I thought signs or plaques were to be erected next to historical statues explaining what it represented and why it's offensive to some. Another possible solution gone by the wayside. It seems, too, that a criminal undercurrent is working under the guise of BLM, destroying what it was set up to do and causing even more hate and division. Hate is begetting more hate. The blacks need a Martin Luther King, and the news media needs some serious revamping in their methods. They add fuel to the fire. Sorry for an old lady rant - it's sad to lose hope, and it almost does seem hopeless.
DeleteIf they were making off with the bronze then it would be looting. As it is, I do not agree or condone with any form of criminal damage, but I would not call the Bristol event either looting or trespass. It seemed to be a joyful event, and hopefully a one-off. As is usual these days and as you suggest, the BML has been hi-jacked on the web and infiltrated in the movement. Don't believe all you hear about them, no matter the source. I have direct experience of all this and I know some of the Bristol people.
DeleteWhen things like this happen it takes Herculean effort from others to undo the damage. It would help if the officers concerned were disciplined in such a way as to show that such things are not tolerated (loss of their jobs and pensions would be a good start) and it may be possible to make it known that such things are totally unacceptable. Making people think differently is another problem. Making them behave differently might be all we can do.
ReplyDeleteTheir unacceptable behaviour has to be controlled by peer-pressure. If the vast majority of decent police officers turn a blind eye to all the little instances of casual racism by a minority of prejudiced colleagues, nothing will change. Right-wingers will tell you that this is a form of thought-control with the masses telling a few free-thinkers what to do. Just ignore them.
DeleteAll my working life was with large numbers of black and Asian children as well as white children (black the majority) and I can honestly say that I hope I never showed any discrimination. But that attitude is ingrained in so many areas of society and doesn't just disappear overnight. It has to be worked at. I now live in an area where it is very un usual to see a black or Asian face (apart from two take aways and the owners don't live here) Up here people are merely onlookers - I don't have any answers.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you didn't Weave. I think that positive discrimination is another form of racism, when all that is really needed is a level playing field.
DeleteI have been doing a 21-day racial equity challenge and there is so much to read and listen to. In the US, the brutal treatment of minorities has been shameful and hasn't been stopped no matter how many studies have been done or how many protests have occurred for hundreds of years! Only the whites can make these changes happen as that is where the power still lies. I am hoping people will be ready to make our country livable for all. It is so very, very sad.
ReplyDeleteI think fear plays a big part in it. At the moment there is a lot to be fearful about.
DeleteI never realized that your country has a problem with racism and racist police until recently. I guess I thought it was just us in the US and when I first read your post I thought you were recounting something that happened here. Still, I don't think it can possibly be as bad over there as it is here.
ReplyDeleteThis case is pretty extreme for Britain. It has been getting slowly better over the years, but I heard a British black person say that he would really like to go one day in his life without being reminded of the colour of his skin by others. Things tend to get worse here during times of economic hardship. That's when the far-right rise to the surface like the scum they really are. Day to day incidences of police racism occur almost unthinkingly. To some police, every young black man is a dangerous drug-user and worth a stop and search. I am sure they don't want to be treated as special, just equal, no matter how special they may be.
DeleteI cannot understand why anyone, police officer or not, would want to take a photograph of themselves in such circumstances.
ReplyDeleteNeither can I. They must be shockingly under-developed as adult human beings. The very last sort of people you want as police.
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DeleteAlmost too shocked to say anything - that poor mother, the poor girls - and I cannot even imagine why those police officers did it.
ReplyDelete(Of course, having written a lot about TV-detective series I see especially in the older ones hierarchy, sexism, racism - "Ashes to Ashes" springs to mind, though it is funny, but I think it is not if you experience that power in reality - they terrorised almost anyone they felt superior to.)
It's an old story with out of date archetypes. Good cop, bad cop, cop who just does the job.
DeleteMina Smallman is a well educated women, far better educated than the police officers involved. She is a retired British Anglican priest, and former school teacher, and she served as the Archdeacon of Southend.
ReplyDeleteMy eldest brother joined the Metropolitan police as a young man, but left within a year. He told my father that he could no longer serve with them because most of his colleagues were dishonest, corrupt, and racist. I am talking about a long, long time ago, my brother has now been a retired teacher for many years. However, I am saddened to think that absolutely nothing has changed or improved over all of these years.
My brother was a policeman too. I won't go in to how he ended up, but it was as far from a good life as you could expect.
DeletePeople of color have been oppressed for hundreds of years. Hundreds. What will it take to make people of no color, and most of no intelligence stand back and let people of color be equal. If a lot of films need disclaimers; if a lot of statues need to come down, if a lot of people of no color need shamed for some time, so be it. I hope it's not hundreds of years.
ReplyDeleteIt is a difficult thing to be able to celebrate difference rather than see it as a threat. Very tribal.
DeleteI suspect it is a game the officers play between each other. They’re a funny lot, I worked with police in the safeguarding team at the council for 3 years. They close ranks of course. The officers who were photographing for police purposes fired off a couple of shots to a “group of friends” who I suspect were other serving officers. They would do this with all murders they attend, black or white, no excuse of course, but this is sadly the sort of thing they do, score points, have a laugh. How to get rid of this mentality in the police I have no idea. I have never felt so uneasy as working with the police in that team. They are a law unto themselves.
ReplyDeleteYes, I think it probably is. I don't think they have many close friends outside the force. They used to play a game called 'motorway snooker'. They would drive along trying to book cars in the order of colour like snooker balls, finishing with a black one. They must have been so bored.
DeleteI wonder if all professions that have to deal with the nastier and gruesome side of life find ways of coping with the horror that would not be to most people's taste.
DeleteLike M.A.S.H.? I don't think that medical dark humour extends to corpses though.
DeleteHistory is not good for the white race. When I saw those young people of all colors marching for justice, I had a feeling of hope that the future, in their hands, will be better. I see change coming.
ReplyDeleteIt's possible, but it's a shame it has to be a fight.
DeleteJust passing through..
ReplyDeletehttps://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-53200019/wembley-park-murders-emotional-interview-with-mum-of-sisters-found-dead
Thanks Willie. Unfortunately that isn't the full interview.
DeleteI can see the point of your deleted post, I think..not having read it all.
ReplyDeleteThere is something going on. I can share or comment on posts on FB that is sharing facts...and it disappears after a day or so. It is happening too often to too many people.
I think FB is having a shake up.
DeleteMy husband retired from the murder squad 4 years ago, not in the met which is a different kettle of fish altogether, but from a different region. This wouldn’t have happened there. He dealt with many murders involving BAME victims and he and his colleagues always treated the victims and their families with the dignity and respect. If anything was seen or reported that was remotely racist they had to report it to someone senior. I do believe it was a different story in years gone by.
ReplyDeleteI can’t under the mindset of anyone wanting to take photos of such a thing. The women victims mother was very dignified but she must have been so hurt. We have a long way to go in this country, the government don’t help with their ignorance and bigotry, I’m not sure where it will end.
I think the Met is very different to a lot of forces.
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