Law Report
Race, language and the Law
Mar 25, 2025
Ife Thompson, a barrister focused on racial and language justice, and Abbena Uw Subempa, an LSE professor studying the intersection of rap and law, discuss the complexities of language and identity in legal cases. They dissect high-profile prosecutions in Britain, highlighting cultural misunderstandings around language use and its impact on racial identity. The conversation emphasizes the urgent need for a culturally sensitive legal framework, especially in cases involving artistic expression and linguistic rights, shedding light on how race shapes legal perceptions.
28:34
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Quick takeaways
- The prosecution of Jamila Abla for her cultural use of racial language underscores the complexities of interpreting language within legal frameworks.
- The criminalization of artistic expressions, such as rap and drill music, raises concerns about biased associations between art and criminality in court.
Deep dives
Prosecutorial Discretion and Racial Language
Recent cases demonstrate the complexities surrounding the use of racial language in legal contexts, particularly among members of minority communities. The case of Jamila Abla, a young black Muslim woman, highlights how her use of the N-word in a tweet about a black soccer player led to criminal charges for sending obscene communications. Despite her intention being non-malicious and rooted in cultural vernacular, the decision to prosecute raised significant concerns about the prosecution's understanding of cultural context and linguistic rights. Ultimately, charges were dropped, yet the psychological toll on Abla and the scrutiny surrounding her language underscores a critical examination of how language is interpreted in legal settings.
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