#LockdownDebates: What does George Floyd’s killing mean for British society?

LOCKDOWN DEBATE: As we now all know, on 25 May, a 46-year-old black man named George Floyd was arrested on suspicion of paying for cigarettes with a fake $20 bill. Within 20 minutes he was dead - police officer Derek Chauvin had knelt on Floyd’s neck for nine minutes. Almost immediately, protests, often violent, spread across the US. American cities seem to be burning in righteous rage at the injustice. Since then, largely under the slogan of Black Lives Matter, spontaneous, mass demonstrations have taken place in solidarity with Floyd across the world. What does this all mean for those of us living outside the US? In the UK, protests have taken place in Hyde Park, Parliament Square and other areas with large numbers of mostly young people understandably appalled at racist violence wherever it happens. But are the parallels between the UK and America so obvious? As groups of white people publicly take the knee, is it significant that these discussions about race in 2020 are framed in terms of white privilege and identity, instead of a collective fight against racism? Patrick Vernon OBE, Inaya Folarin Iman, Dr Shahrar Ali, Kunle Olulode and Dr Cheryl Hudson discuss.