Laula was a young wife and mother living what she had expected would be a normal life in modern belfast. But then she lost her home. Her relatives down the hill were imprisoned in their homes. Her brother was shot and killed. She began to teer up. My father never worked again at the dock. It's forty years ago this year. It's still rough. Does the law seem fair any more? Do it seem predictable? Does it seem like you can speak up and be heard? Things got even worse. In 19 72, there were one thousand 495 shootings, 531 armed robberies, one thousand 931 bombings, and 497 people killed.
Malcolm has been writing about race and policing for a very long time, going back to the killing of Amadou Diallo in 1999. Sometimes, it is useful to take a step back and consider policing in a broader context. Here we present a chapter from Malcolm's book David and Goliath, which includes an analysis of a riot in Northern Ireland in 1970. Many miles and many years away. About divisions of religion and class and not divisions of race. But the core questions to be asked in 1970 and 1999 and today are the same: if you have power, what does it mean to use it, and use it wisely? And what are the consequences if you don't?
David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits and the Art of Battling Giants was published in 2013 by Little, Brown and Company. Audiobook production by Hachette Audio.
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