Looking at the experience of black Britons through an American lens

There's a general sense in which all the social justice debates are always filtered through a US american lens, probably because of the media presence and because the people leading these debates are more active in global online communities.

But it does feel to me that often we frame the discourse in a way that is not useful for the specific problems we have in a specific country/region. There was some of the ACAB sentiment in Germany, but it quickly died down, since most people here (even left-wing people) generally trust the police - and while I'm sure there are still problems with underrepresentation, racial profiling, etc., it's nowhere on the scale that it appears to be on the US.

Also most countries simply don't have a recent history of slavery inside their own country like the US does; black people in Germany, for example, are almost all immigrants, which does create entirely different dynamics, and we have (had) a lot more immigration from different cultures, especially Turkish people. None of this means racism and xenophobia don't exist, but the discourse and potential solutions are not the same as in the US.

Maybe because it was Britain that started all this mess with slavery and human trafficking, so Britons should indeed try to repent, or some day face the wrath of the whole world.

>I have privilege as a White person because I can do all of these things without thinking twice about it … I can go jogging (#AmaudArbery). I can relax in the comfort of my own home (#BothemSean and #AtatianaJefferson). I can ask for help after being in a car crash (#Jonathan Ferrell and #RenishaMcBride). I can have a cellphone (#StephonClark). I can leave a party to get to safety (#JordanEdwards). I can play loud music (#JordanDavis). I can sell CDs (#AltonSterling). I can sleep (#AiyanaJones). I can walk from the corner store (#MikeBrown).

Who really says this?

Michael Brown could've had a regular visit to the store too. Instead, he chose to brazenly steal whatever he wanted and waltzed out despite the owner's protestations, strutted down the middle of the street with his stolen goods, wrestled a pistol from the attending police officer and discharged a shot in the struggle, and then - having made a little distance in his getaway - chose to turn around and charge at the officer even as he demanded cooperation.

Arbery could've had a pleasant jog too. Instead he chose to enter a stranger's house, flee when confronted by concerned neighbours, and very nearly wrestle away his firearm - and we all know how that would've ended - creating a life or death situation for the good Samaritan.

Why, if this is such a terrible phenomenon, must we lie to create martyrs? I don't even disagree with the scourge of brutality, especially having seen a 17 year old White boy shot and killed by police today in a welfare check. But why is it so common in the BLM movement to rally behind violent criminals on the receiving end of justifiable responses? I understand the black incentives for doing so, but why are Whites perpetuating these myths so enthusiastically? Why aren't they rioting for the White victims instead of (or at the very least, as well as) these black thugs?

I read that Poland has quite draconian drug laws. Such laws are what institutionalised racism is based on in the US - it comes from the premise that people from disadvantaged background will be more likely to be involved in drugs than other groups - this is of course not true, as person living on handouts is just as likely to take drugs as a rich person working in banking sector. It's what law enforcement is being focused on. I believe most western countries have this setup copied from the US and it is being used for oppression of groups that government deems undesirable. If cops were the "good guys", they would investigate why certain politicians push drug prohibition, who profits from it and why police is being used to support it. In my country if you are black, you are 6 times more likely to be harassed by law enforcement than if you were white, despite the drug use being at the same level.

> While racism is a problem in Poland, it's not a systematic racism

I absolutely agree that transplanting US talking points wholesale into non-US frames of reference is something that's often done blindly and never really applies.

But the reason for this is that the issue is nuanced and has a lot of local context that needs consideration in its own right. It shouldn't be used as an excuse to dismiss the existence of systemic racism in your own country.

I think the above quoted line is such a pity as it truly undermines the rest of your otherwise excellent comment.