Introduction
Last week saw the death of our much-beloved monarch Queen Elizabeth II. While this is a significant milestone in history, her death overshadowed a more significant death.
Indeed, on the 5th of September, Chris Kaba an unarmed black man was shot dead by police in South London. For those unfamiliar with the incident, here’s a quick run-down of what happened.
What happened
Chris Kaba was driving a car suspected of being connected to a firearms incident in previous days. Police began pursuing the car, eventually ramming their car into it. They then fired a single round into the driver’s windscreen.
Kaba later died in hospital. No gun was found in the vehicle. I repeat, no gun was found in the vehicle.
My thoughts
The killing of unarmed black men is the greatest injustice of the 21st century. How many more of us need to die before the matter is taken seriously? More frustratingly, protests about police brutality in the UK are often met with sharp ignorant rebuttals. Such as, “police in the UK don’t kill black men”. Even during the George Floyd wave of protests, I would hear this time and time again. I guess for some Brits police brutality is an America only issue.
While there is merit in believing that, unlike the US, interactions with the police in the UK rarely end in fatality, police brutality in the UK is alive and kicking. Police brutality does not have to result in the death of an unarmed civilian. It can take form in racial profiling, unsubstantiated suspicions, uncalled-for harassment, and in some instances unnecessary use of force.
So when I heard that Chris Kaba was murdered by the police, I wasn’t shocked. To tell you the truth, I didn’t feel anything. The George Floyd incident put me in a really bad place mentally and emotionally, and the only way I was able to get over it was to detach myself from the issue. This is extremely saddening as I have now become desensitised to the killing of unarmed black men.
For much of this week, I have avoided posting about Chris Kaba on social media. Mainly because I hate virtual signalling. To me, clicking a share button in the name of “spreading awareness” is bare minimum bottle barrel behaviour. If anything, it’s counterproductive – posting on social media gives people the false impression that they are actually doing something about the issue. When in reality a lot more work needs to be put in, if we want to see real change. So, rather than reposting on social media, my time is better spent articulating myself (on platforms such as my blog) or going to a protest.
Another thing that I think is important to mention is the media coverage of the incident. Understandably, people want to mourn the Queen. However, the disproportionate coverage of the Queen’s death contrasted with the lack of coverage given to the Chris Kaba incident is abhorrent. Given the rarity of shootings in the UK coupled with the racist undertones of the incident, you would and should expect more coverage. But in the last week, I have seen more pictures of the Queen, than articles on Kaba’s shooting. I appreciate that the Queen was an important symbol to the nation and her presence will be missed. But a father-to-be has just been killed, and no major media outlets (or our prime minister for that matter) has said anything meaningful.
My thoughts are with the family of Chris Kaba, and I will pray continuously that those responsible for his death are brought to justice.