Black Lives Matter

JVL stands solidly in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. We are dismayed by Keir Starmer’s disdainful dismissal of the movement during his interview with BBC Breakfast on 2nd July.

He showed a lack of sensitivity to, or any understanding of, the genuine grievances against the police that Black people have clearly articulated and evidenced when he condemned them for talking about ‘defunding the police’.  He also showed a lack of basic knowledge of the demands behind that call to defund the police.  He seemed eager to take the focus away from Britain to concentrate only on American events and even defined the Black Lives Matter movement as a ‘moment’, as though it was only a response to ‘what happened dreadfully in America just a few weeks ago’. He showed that he has failed to understand the nature of systemic inequalities suffered by Black communities in the UK; indeed such a failure that his dismissal of legitimate and longstanding concerns could be warmly welcomed by Nigel Farage, even as it was condemned by Black and Minority Ethnic Labour Party members and supporters.

The leadership of a party committed to equality and diversity should not be dismissing, from a position of privilege, the motives of a movement established to challenge racism and oppression in the US, in the UK and round the world. The Black Lives Matter movement has engaged the idealism and enthusiasm of Black and White people desperate and determined to create a better world. We see this as an exciting and hopeful development.

The Leader of the Labour Party needs to listen, attentively and in humility, to the voices of the oppressed if he is to understand the full implications of the depth and impact of racism.  He needs to address the fact that Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities are significantly more likely: to catch and die from COVID-19; to live in poverty; to be unemployed; to suffer from the ‘hostile environment’; and in particular to be disproportionately affected  – or rather targeted – by the criminal justice system.   These facts highlight that racism is deeply embedded in our society and that the system is stacked against Black people. These multiple and connected issues demand serious and committed policy choices, not instant and dismissive sound bites.

We call on the Leader of the Party to withdraw his comments, and pledge to work with Black MPs, party members and other activists in the Black Lives Matter movement to identify meaningful and concrete actions to tackle racism in all walks of life.