Think Piece: The Double Standard of (White) British Society

To start, I must first offer my deepest condolences to the parents who are mourning their children. Three young innocent lives have been lost, a grief that can never quite be articulated, a pain that will haunt their families and loved ones forever. Even beyond the mourning of the family, there are young children that have forever been traumatised by their recent experience. Physical and psychological scars have been left on children (and adults), scars that may never heal, wounds that the greater community hopes to never feel. I pray for healing, strength and comfort for those children (and adults) that have been directly and indirectly affected by the most recent incident in the UK.

In view of the gravity of the situation, there needs to be consequences for actions. The perpetrator needs to be held accountable, but at the same time, we MUST acknowledge that NO psychologically healthy teenager (or adult for that matter) carries out such a heinous crime on innocent children or adults. The mental health (of the perpetrator) needs to be impartially reviewed and in alignment with justice being served, he needs to have access to psychological services to heal his mind and prevent him from carrying out such a crime again. One can be held accountable and also be offered (mental) health support–both things ARE simultaneously possible and necessary to minimise the risk of reoffending!

That being said, whilst we are on the subject of accountability, WHITE people must also be held accountable for their acts of terrorism in recent days. In the first instance when news of the attack was heard, it was assumed that the perpetrator was Muslim and the white British didn’t waste anytime gathering across the UK streets chanting for the removal of immigrants. First of all, to practice Islam does not make one an immigrant, but racist people are usually folly and ignorant so such a ridiculous conclusion doesn’t surprise me. Secondly, why was the perpetrator assumed to be an immigrant? The most recent mainstream news of an individual practicing Pedicide in the UK was a white woman, Lucy Letby. Given this, why was the perpetrator not assumed to be a white female?

Of course, mainstream media has done an excellent job at programming (white) British society into believing that heinous crimes are only committed by non-Christian, non-White people, so again, this perception doesn’t surprise me. But it says a lot about the mindset of the general (white) British public and who they almost always see as the enemy.

Secondly, the current UK law is that child criminals have their identity concealed until they are adults (18), though the courts can choose to publicly release the identity of the perpetrator if they feel it is necessary. In recent years there have been questions surrounding this and if child offenders should be granted life long anonymity to help them to be able to ‘move forward’ after serving their time as opposed to having their past follow them for their whole lives. This topic of law, public safety and justice is a heavy one, but it intrigues me to know under what circumstances do the courts decide that a child criminals face needs to be publicly revealed. What is (usually) the rational for this decision? It has been stated that in this particular circumstance he has been named to protect the Muslim community (fair), but being that it was a Black boy, that committed the crimes, this has only led to more unrest, leaving Black (and Brown) people of the UK vulnerable to attack. What measures have been put in place to protect us from the aggression under the circumstances?

Thirdly, whilst the perpetrator was a Black boy it is to be noted that he is British, born and raised. So this is nothing to do with immigration, though the racists will die on the hill that this has everything to do with race. But does it? Since the murder of the young children, white people have been attacking every Black (and Brown) person in sight. They have unleashed their inner terrorists, and as usual, they show no remorse for their actions. Every time one non-white, non-Christian person commits a crime, we must ALL be held accountable for that individuals actions. But when the shoe is on the other foot, suddenly white people want to take an individualistic approach and deny any accountability for the atrocities of a member of their community. Over centuries, white people have been the most diabolic people on this planet, spreading, hate, wickedness, fear, and a plethora of other negative emotions across non-white, non-Christian societies globally. Yet they fail to hold themselves accountable and we as the victims choose not to hold them accountable either. Should there be justice for the young children that have been murdered? Of course. Should the young boy that committed the crime have to face the consequences of his actions? Without a doubt. But the white British public also need to be held accountable for terrorism, racism, xenophobia, brutality, assault, vandalism, and every other crime that they have (recently) committed in the UK streets. It shouldn’t be one rule for the few (non-white/non-Christian) and another rule for all (white Christians/Atheists). But racism itself is all about double standards, the denial of accountability and causing pain and suffering to innocent people.

I sympathise with the families, children, and adults that have been affected by this ordeal and in no way do I oppose justice (and psychological support) being served. But, at the same time, we must acknowledge the other elephant in the room and white ADULTS must be held accountable for their actions and what they are indirectly (intentionally or unintentionally) teaching their children: racism is okay, there are no consequences for actions, accountability only applies to non-White people. Holding a mirror up to the face of racists doesn’t mean we ignore the actions of the one who committed Pedicide. Both can be acknowledged at the same time. But by CHOOSING to ignore the hate that is being projected by the racist ‘far-right’, the terrorism that is being exuded, and the slap on the wrist that will likely be the only retribution for their callousness, (not so Great) Britain is indirectly saying (as it always has) that racism is okay, (white) terrorism to ‘BAME’ (a term I don’t particularly endorse) is okay, and Black (and Brown) lives have never, and will never matter (to them).

The Home Office has come out to say there is a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment for the various acts of terrorism currently being committed across the UK, but my question is: How many of these ‘far-right’ racist criminals will get found guilty in the court of law? And in the event that it is a guilty verdict, how many of them will get anything close to the maximum sentence?