Read on Twitter
A couple of days ago a Black Barrister appeared on the Sky News programme BLM : Will Britain Change? She spoke about the shocking over representation of Black men in the Criminal Justice System at every step from Stop & Search to Prison places.
Uninvited, a policing academic/researcher 'atted' her with a 'contextualising' thread of datasets and statistics which highlighted broader inequality relating to black people and deprivation and crime in deprived areas. The explanation - Inequality is a broader social problem
The thread was widely retweeted as an 'important read' by many senior police and other academics. The message is that this is bigger than policing.
Scant mention of the unconscious biases and implicit assumptions which must be examined alongside any discussion of disproportionate policing and negative CJS outcomes for black men. No recognition of the reality of racial profiling or dare we consider institutional "R -word"?
This is how you marginalise people. The original speaker and her comments, experiences and perspectives are sidelined and forgotten. The incomplete counter argument (presented as context) circulated and praised. It is no longer a conversation
We will never make any progress until we are prepared to be made to feel uncomfortable. You cannot load the dice, or control the agenda by taking things off the table because you aren't ready to deal with them. This is why trust and public confidence remain a problem
In other news, yesterday @EssexBarrister was named Woman of the Year at the Precious Awards. Congratulations Alexandra. It is well deserved!
