Category: Readers Articles of Interest

PLAY HARD, WORK HARD

This is America

Thousands of people across the world have gathered to protest the killing of unarmed African American George Floyd in Minneapolis.

Floyd was killed on 25 May, as four officers detained him, with one officer – Derek Chauvin – kneeling on Floyd’s neck for more than eight minutes, despite Floyd calling out repeatedly that he could not breathe.

It’s definitely not the first time black Americans have been killed in police custody, and it’s unfortunate that it’s unlikely George Floyd will be the last.

The protesting which has taken place across the world has made some significant changes – it’s hard to deny that. Derek Chauvin’s charges have been elevated to second-degree murder, and all officers involved in George Floyd’s death have now been charged, following pleas from protestors worldwide.

Six police officers in Atlanta have been charged, after a video went viral showing the officers using a stun gun and dragging two young Black students, Messiah Young and Taniyah Pilgrim, from a car following protests.

Miami police have banned officers from using a “carotid restraint”, otherwise known as a chokehold. San Francisco’s city supervisors have introduced a resolution to prevent the police department from hiring officers with records of serious misconduct.

Cities across America, including Minneapolis, New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Texas have begun the process of redirecting part of the budget of each of their police departments to serve Black communities and communities of colour.

But there is still work which needs to be done.

Breonna Taylor was shot eight times by Louisville police after officers forced their way inside her home; the officers had a no-knock warrant. The Louisville metro council unanimously voted to pass an ordinance called “Breonna’s Law”, banning no-knock search warrants. But the officers who killed Taylor have not been arrested nor charged.

Police officers have ‘qualified immunity’ (or legal immunity as it’s called in Britain). Qualified immunity is a judicial doctrine which makes it difficult for people whose civil rights are violated by police officers (such as in cases of police brutality) to obtain money damages in lawsuits.

Essentially, it’s impossible to sue police officers unless the victim can show that the officer violated a right explicitly recognised by a prior court ruling. Even if the exact same incident that happened to George Floyd happened to another, unless it happened in exactly the same place, even if the difference is a matter of metres, it is not possible to find officers liable.

I know that many of us will be looking at what happened in America as a matter of ‘us versus them’.

I’m not saying racism in the UK is in any way the same as it is in America, but it is naïve to think racism does not exist in Britain.

As Martin Luther King Jr once said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere… Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly”.

Mark Duggan was shot by Metropolitan police in London in 2011; he was unarmed when facing police officers before he was shot and his death sparked riots across London. Black people account for 8% of deaths in police custody in the UK, despite the black community accounting for only 3% of the British population (as reported by the Guardian).

Jimmy Mubenga’s death on a plane on a Heathrow runway in 2010, while being restrained by three immigration officers, saw the immigration officers later acquitted of manslaughter, despite Mubenga’s death counted as unlawful.

Rashan Charles’ death in 2017 in Hackney, after being restrained by a police officer, and Edson Da Costa’s death under similar circumstances in the same year saw all officers from both cases cleared.

Of course, Britain is nowhere near as bad as America when it comes to the issue of police brutality. But it is impossible to deny there is no reason for the Black Lives Matter Movement in Britain.

For many, the conversations about race which have been sparked by recent events may be uncomfortable. But these conversations need to be had, because if it is uncomfortable for you to talk about, imagine living the uncomfortable reality. We need to have these uncomfortable discussions about race so that five-year-olds no longer need to be informed that a police officer may treat them badly because of the colour of their skin.

Black Lives Matter as a movement was founded in 2013, in response to the acquittal of the police officer who killed Trayvon Martin.

The movement is seen by many as controversial, as putting the importance of black lives above the importance of every other life. As Barack Obama once said, “‘Black Lives Matter’ simply refers to the notion that there’s a specific vulnerability for African Americans that needs to be addressed. It’s not meant to suggest that other lives don’t matter. It’s to suggest that other folks aren’t experiencing this particular vulnerability”.

All lives do matter. But currently, black lives and the lives of people of colour are the lives we need to concentrate on. Imagine if you broke your leg and went to the doctor. Whilst all your bones matter, right now, your broken leg is the priority for treatment.

“There are very few hardships out there that hit only people of colour and not white people, but there are a lot of hardships that hit people of colour a lot more than white people” – Ijeoma Olua, ‘So You Want to Talk About Race’.

By Tirion Davies

PLAY HARD, WORK HARD

Twenty Years

2020 has been bizarre. From wildfires destroying much of Australia’s landscape, to floods which devastated much of South Wales to these unprecedented times – all within a handful of months.

It’s impossible to forget the pain and suffering so many have unfortunately had to face this year alone, with barely five months under our belts.

I can’t help, however, but contemplate the last twenty years of my life and hope for better days ahead. As dramatic as it seems, I think we’d all like for this year to be done with.

Twenty years ago, the world was celebrating a new Millennium. The world entered the twenty-first century, and within ten years, leapt to heights not many could predict.

I was born in May of 2000. Which means I’ll be twenty this month. But what a weird twenty years of life to have lived. Countless events shocking the world, to now, living through a global pandemic.

People my age have seen so much, and yet our lives are barely even beginning yet. We’ve seen war and terror attacks on our screens; we’ve seen political upheaval (and countless arguments over such upheaval); we’ve seen technological advancements so vast it’s often seen as surprising that I lived through a period of life where I didn’t have an iPhone.

Twenty years is a long time – but it’s also not. Not really. My life is only now really beginning, but I still don’t have many life experiences. Twenty seems so old, but also so young all in one go.

A few weeks ago. I was announced as the new Editor in Chief of my university’s newspaper. And yet in that same week I was hoping my Mam could ring the doctor for me. It seems so mind-boggling to me that I am gaining these opportunities to advance my career, but I still feel like a child.

There’s an expectation that by twenty years old you should have your life in order. That being in University or having a job or a family should mean that you’re an adult. But it doesn’t feel that way, really.

It feels a little as though I’m playing House. I know what I’m doing when it comes to Uni and the newspaper, but then, somehow, I still feel as though everything else is a big guessing game.

I’ve seen so much change in twenty years. Enough change that my ancestors would likely feel my twenty years was more than three lifetimes. Twenty years which feel like centuries, but also like no time at all.

I mean this generally of course – my lifetime is only so different to that of any other twenty-year-old. But these past twenty years have been rough, no?

It’s not all bad, of course. Although we’ve had some terrible times, we’ve had some advancements, too.

Opinions are evolving, and acceptance is more readily available. It would be naïve of me to say there is no evil in the world, or that prejudice is non-existent; but it is possible to say that the world has changed for the better and more people are having open discussions and checking their own prejudices.

Hard topics are being discussed, and topics such as women’s rights and reproductive health; mental health; racial stereotyping; gender norms; LGBTQIA+ rights, and the mental wellbeing of men are reaching new audiences.

Twenty years ago, it seems unlikely a popular television programme on a big American network, such as ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’, would have such open discussion about sexuality, racial prejudice, sexual harassment and even male mental health. The show takes place in a New York police department – an unlikely background for such open discussions to be had twenty years ago.

Twenty years ago, the world was a different place. It’s not the first time this has been the case, and it won’t be the last. But it has been remarkable to see. The world still isn’t a great place, but by some means it’s a better place than it was twenty years ago.

I don’t know what the next twenty years may bring. I don’t know whether the world will have bettered itself or deteriorated. Honestly, I don’t know if the world will still be here, given the threat of World War III at the beginning of this year.

Twenty years is a long time in the grand scheme of things.

I wonder what the children born in 2020 will have experienced by the time they reach twenty years old

It’s not news that I’m hoping to follow a career in the media. Although I currently work for Cardiff University’s newspaper, Gair Rhydd, I don’t think I will pursue a career in newspapers.
But despite my aspirations to become a journalist, it doesn’t mean I can’t hold the media accountable. Recently, more so than ever, I’ve been more aware of the media’s perception of certain celebrities. The way some are attacked and vilified. How some media outlets will do everything in their power to gain a story.
With Taylor Swift’s tell-all documentary hitting Netflix at the end of January and with the recent and sudden death of television presenter Caroline Flack, it’s time we realise that targeting certain celebrities creates a mob mentality – and can often cause serious harm.
Most people by now will likely know I’m a big fan of Taylor Swift. Since her Fearless album, I’ve followed her career and enjoyed her music. I feel I’ve grown up with her and her music and getting more of an inside look into her private life in her documentary has been fascinating. I feel I relate inherently with the way she reacts to how others perceive her. She mentioned how she’d built her entire belief system on being liked. But when the world turned against her, she had to rebuild.
Taylor Swift has been criticised her entire career. Either because of who she’s dating or how she reacts to situations. She’s been scrutinised and clearly it meant she had to think about everything she did in her life. Which seems normal – to a point. It seems she put so much pressure on herself to be ‘perfect’ that she even considers her album Reputation a failure because of its lack of Grammy nominations – despite many, myself included, counting the album as one of her best.
The media has spent many of Swift’s years creating her as a ‘love to hate’ personality. During 2016, following Kanye West’s Famous song debacle, and Kim Kardashian West’s recording, the world quite literally turned on Swift. The media seemed to join in on this mass hatred of Swift, to a point where, when she was dealing with a sexual assault case, numerous media outlets were continuing to criticise her. Even as Taylor Swift was going through one of the hardest things anyone might have to go through, many media outlets were capitalising on her hardship.
I understand that the world has an obsession with celebrity culture, and that celebrities are seen as the ‘elite’. However, to an extent, the media can be perceived to be out for blood. I recently saw a viral video of Selena Gomez leaving a restaurant where she said, ever so timidly, ‘do you mind leaving me alone, please?’ to paparazzi. Their response was simply ‘we got here first, there’ll be more in a second’, but Gomez even mentioned how they were scaring her.
Of course, celebrities put themselves in a position where the world scrutinises them. It’s, unfortunately, part of the deal. However, there is certainly a point where things can go too far. And it often does.
Caroline Flack was charged last December with assaulting her boyfriend. Overnight, her life was upended. I sincerely believe that an abuser should be punished for their actions. However, the vindication Flack received during her assault trial was not the first time Flack was targeted by some media outlets.
As with many female celebrities, everything Caroline Flack did was scrutinised. It feels as though the media were thrilled when her assault charges hit the headlines in December.
Flack’s boyfriend dropped the charges against her, and yet the trial continued on (Flack was meant to stand trial next month). Although I believe assault trials should be carried through even despite charges being dropped – it’s notable that Flack’s trial was not dropped, when sadly, in most cases, the charges being dropped would mean the trial would be over. It seems like Flack’s trial not being dropped is in part due to the fact she was famous.
It seemed unlikely, due to her persona on ITV’s Love Island and BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing, that she could be an abuser. And in part, I think the media loved that. It was a story which seemed so unlikely – which meant it would sell.
Again, I’m not saying Caroline Flack’s abuse of her boyfriend ought to be excused. I am however saying that the way her trial and the allegations were handled seemed targeted in a way which was different from how abusers are often perceived by the media.
Of course, it is not entirely the media’s fault. In order to sell papers and gain more clicks to websites, you must make sure your content is what the public will want. If the world is hating a certain celebrity, the media will capitalise on this. It is both the media buying into this mob mentality which is harmful, but also the public’s creation of the mob mentality which can cause severe damage.
Everyone should be accountable for their actions. However, if these celebrities are being held accountable, then so should everyone else, and that includes the media, too.
No one else should feel like ending their life is the only way out of the hounding from social media trolls and the media.

By Tirion Davies