Crowds in Belfast demonstrate that racism is not confined to U.S.

*Republished from June 2020*

Over a week since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota and anti-racism protests have been sparked across the globe.

"Northern Ireland isn't innocent" read the sign of demonstrators

Outside of Belfast's City Hall, demonstrators of all ages and ethnicities gathered peacefully.

While mourning the unlawful deaths of George Floyd and the many other black people in the U.S - attention was drawn to racism within the North of Ireland.

One of the event's organisers Jolene Francis, originally from county Leitrim, told Redefining Politics (now TGRM) her experience moving to Belfast:

"When I came up to the North of Ireland, people said stupid things like 'oh it's great that you can speak English.'"

"It's ignorance at the end of the day and ignorance is dangerous."

Jolene Francis: one of the event organisers

Jolene went on to describe what changes she would like to see follow the demonstrations:

"I would like to see more of an acknowledgement within Northern Ireland. I'd like to see more provision. I'd like to see more representation of young, black women."

"I want people to know that we will not be silenced anymore and we won't stand for discrimination."

While Northern Ireland's population of non-white ethnicities is lower than other parts of the UK and Ireland, there is an staggering lack of representation in politics and public life.

A briefing paper from the House of Commons library revealed that none of the current 90 members of the Northern Ireland Assembly were recorded as being from a non-white background.

In addition to this, only one out of a total of 462 local councillors was recorded from an ethnic-minority group.

In public services such as healthcare, policing and education, people of colour makeup less than 1% of positions.

Gallery from the Belfast protest: 

Other species give support

Demonstrator, Lauren Foster, told Redefining Politics (now TGRM) of the challenges she faces being mixed race:

"Sometimes I feel like I'm not black enough to be in the black community, but I'm also not white enough to be in the white community."

"I grew up in a predominantly white area. I was the odd one out per se. I was sometimes made to feel like the outsider."

Lauren Foster outside Belfast City Hall. June 2020

"People don't realise it's not just name calling and racial attacks. It's mental - it's mentally ingrained."

Like many others, Lauren feels that not enough attention is being drawn to the racial inequalities in the UK and Ireland.

"Everyone over the past week have said that 'it's not the UK's problem. It's the U.S's problem.' This isn't true."

"I hate how people try to make it out like there's not an issue here. It really devalues the feelings of people that have suffered at the hands of the government, the police and society in general."

A common theme that is woven through the event was the issue of white complicity. Key speakers outside Belfast City Hall and crowd posters appealed for the white audience not to remain neutral in this struggle.

One of the many pleas for white people to not be complicit

Another protest is set to take place this Saturday 6th of June (2020) at Custom House Square.

**This post is republished from our previous platform, Redefining Politics (June, 2020)*

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