The Fight Against Racial Injustice is Transatlantic

Trayvon Martin (1995-2012)

A 17-year-old Black youth who was killed by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman in Sanford, Fla. Martin was walking to his father’s fiancé's house when Zimmerman saw him and called the police, reporting him as acting suspicious. Commentators suggested that this report was based on Zimmerman’s racist beliefs, rather than any specific actions taken by Martin. Zimmerman confronted Martin and, during the confrontation, shot and killed him. Although Zimmerman was eventually charged, he was acquitted and faced no consequences for the killing. Protests occurred throughout the United States to demand justice and eliminate racial inequality.

George Floyd (1973-2020)

A Black man who was killed by Minneapolis police officers in May 2020. The officers were arresting Floyd alleging he had used a counterfeit $20 bill. During the arrest, Officer Derek Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck for approximately eight minutes, during which time Floyd repeated that he was unable to breathe. Floyd’s death at the hands of the Minneapolis police led to massive protests against police brutality throughout the United States and in 60 other countries around the world.

Racism

A belief that certain groups should not be allowed to participate in the process of self-government or the pursuit of economic opportunity, that these groups are inferior on the basis of physical appearance, and that they may be discriminated against due to these physical qualities. There is no scientific basis for grouping people in this manner.

Civil rights movement

A campaign to ensure all members of society are guaranteed individual rights and protections . The phrase is typically associated with the well-known campaign in the 1950s and 1960s in the United States in which Black leaders and allies organized protests and actions to ensure their individual rights were not violated. However, in the context of the radio program, sociology professor Gary Younge points out that European nations also experienced a civil rights movement in the colonies of European nations.

Nkrumah (Kwame Nkrumah, 1912–1972)

A civil rights leader who led Ghana’s independence movement against Britain. When Ghana gained independence, Nkrumah became the president of the nation. He continued to challenge imperial rule by leading the Pan-African movement, which advocated for other African nations to gain their independence from European nations so they could unite as one African country, or a United States of Africa. While the Pan-African movement did not lead to a single, united African nation, African colonies did successfully participate in nationalist movements and gain independence from European imperialism.

Derogatory references

A disrespectful manner of commenting upon a person, place, or situation. Sociology professor Gary Younge, a guest on the podcast, uses this phrase to refer to comments made by President Donald Trump during a 2018 Oval Office meeting regarding immigration for people from El Salvador, Haiti, and several African countries. Trump asked, “Why are we having all these people from s******* countries come here?” Although there were several witnesses corroborating Trump’s usage of such language, the president later stated that he did not. In the same meeting he indicated a willingness to welcome immigrants from Nordic countries. Some commentators have said it’s reasonable to infer that Trump’s disdain for immigrants from El Salvador, Haiti, and some African countries was due to prejudice against people of color; lawyers suing the Department of Homeland Security have also argued that the comments are evidence of Trump’s racial bias.

Empire

A group of colonies, territories, or nations held under the control of a more powerful nation. Within the context of the podcast, this is a reference to the British Empire, which controlled territories all over the world, including in India, Ghana, and America.

Metaphor

A literary technique in which one thing is said to represent another thing. In the context of the podcast, Gary Younge speculates that people around the world reacted so strongly to the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer because it represented “what's been going on over the last few years” in America. Younge names migrant children separated from their parents and put in cages at detention facilities at the U.S.–Mexico border and the frequent instances of police brutality against Black Americans as examples of the broader pattern represented by Floyd’s death.

Continuity (continuities)

A progression of events over time, connected by a common theme or element. In the podcast, Gary Younge reflects on the parallels between people in Bristol, England tearing down a statue of a slave trader and people in America rallying for the removal of Confederate statues.

Race

A social construct that groups people based on physical characteristics, often skin color. There is no scientific basis for grouping people in this manner.

Complicit

Acting in a manner that supports the wrongdoing of another or allows that wrongdoing to continue unchallenged. Individuals who act in this manner often don’t claim their responsibility for the wrongdoing that occurs. Within the context of the podcast, sociology professor Gary Younge asserts that Britain did not just support the American system of slavery, but also “directed the slave trade in America until America became independent,” suggesting that Britain was directly responsible for the institution of slavery in America from the earliest colonial days until the Revolutionary War broke out in 1776.

Selective amnesia

Amnesia is a medical condition in which a person cannot recall memories of events from their past or, in some cases, form new memories. “Selective amnesia” refers to a conscious personal or institutional choice to block from memory negative events, typically for the sake of convenience or to avoid confronting unpleasant or shameful aspects of one’s history. In the context of the podcast, the phrase refers to the tendency of some British people to ignore the injustice that existed in Britain’s colonial empire.

Michael Brown (1996-2014)

An 18-year-old Black man who was shot to death by a police officer in 2014 in Ferguson, Missouri. The officer claimed that Brown had initiated a physical altercation and attempted to take the officer’s gun. Brown’s friend Dorian Johnson witnessed the event and contradicted the officer’s account, asserting that the officer grabbed Brown by the neck and threatened him before shooting at him. According to Johnson, he and Brown fled, but the officer chased Brown and shot him although his hands were raised and he exhibited no threat to the officer. The shooting of Michael Brown led to protests in Ferguson and around the nation calling for an end to police brutality. However, few immediate changes occurred, and the officer who shot Michael Brown did not face any disciplinary actions.

Slave trade

An international system that was established so that white men could profit from the capture, transport, sale, and purchase of enslaved people through transatlantic trade.

Boomerang effect

An unintended result that occurs when an attempt to convince a person to see things in a particular way leads that person to take a different perspective and notice even more problems. In the podcast, professor Gary Younge speculates that while the original outrage in Britain focused on the killing of George Floyd focused on police brutality against people of color, British people then began to examine their country’s unique role in supporting the institution of slavery in America.

Egregious

Appalling; outrageous. Within the context of the radio program, sociology professor Gary Younge asserts that the most appalling anti-black racist acts committed by European nations occurred outside of Europe, in colonies.

Brazen

Bold, shameless. In the podcast, this word is used to describe the killing of George Floyd by police officers in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020. The officers face allegations of brutality for their violent and unapologetic treatment of Floyd, who repeatedly said he could not breathe as an officer knelt on his neck for approximately eight minutes. Despite witnesses capturing the event on video and calling for the officers to stop, they did not. Floyd lost consciousness and later died.

The Guardian

British newspaper founded in 1821, funded by a private trust since 1936 to protect it from undue influence from politicians or business leaders. It is widely recognized for excellence and independence in journalism. Within the context of the radio program, the host mentions that the guest, sociology professor Gary Younge, formerly worked for the newspaper as a U.S.-based correspondent, or journalist. This experience lends credibility to Younge’s perspective.

Segregation

Forced racial separation and inequality commonly associated with the South after the Civil War. Members of the Black and white races were separated through legislation referred to as Jim Crow laws, passed by Redeemer governments and upheld by the Supreme Court. It is important to note that although not enshrined in Jim Crow laws, segregation also existed in the North, perpetuated byracist housing and economic policies.

Colonies

Lands that are controlled by a foreign, oftentimes distant power. The control exerted by the dominant nation allows its government to control the governance, economy, resources and culture of the lands that are being oppressed.

Anti-racism

Opposing racism, acting deliberately to eliminate discrimination based on race, and advocating for an end to racial inequality. Within the context of the article, Gary Younge observes that an anti-racism movement is occurring in major European cities.

Systemic racism

Policies that exist within institutions—including government, the criminal justice system, education, and private industry—in which a certain group is discriminated against via exclusion from opportunities available to others in society, or disadvantaged in the pursuit of those opportunities.

Gandhi

Reference to Mohandas Gandhi, the civil rights leader who led India’s independence movement against the British through nonviolent civil disobedience.Gandhi was imprisoned by The British imprisoned Gandhi because of these nonviolent resistance actions. Gandhi fasted to draw attention to policies and actions he opposed, using the hunger strike as another tool of resistance. Gandhi is often referred to as Mahatma, or Great Soul.

Confederate monuments

Statues erected to honor Southern leaders who fought against the Union during the Civil War. The Confederacy was the term for the Southern states that seceded from the Union and created an alternative government. Several long-term causes led to the formation of the Confederacy, including the sectional balance in Congress, tariff policy, and anger against those calling for the abolition of slavery. It is important to note that all these issues centered around the Confederates’ desire to preserve an economy based on slave labor. The immediate cause of this group’s formation was the election of a free-soil advocate, Abraham Lincoln, to the presidency in 1860.

Incarceration rate

The portion of a population imprisoned after being found guilty of a crime, typically expressed as a percentage of the population or a per capita value (meaning out of 100,000 members of the US population, 655 were incarcerated in 2019, for instance). Within the context of the article, it is pointed out that the United States has the highest rate of incarceration in the world. This means that the percentage of Americans who are imprisoned is higher than the percentage in any other country.

Sociology

The study of society and social interactions between people with the goal of gaining an understanding of the forces that shape a person’s experience in the world. Sociology also considers how social change occurs.

Alchemy

This term is most frequently associated with the medieval practice in which people attempted to turn lead into gold with the application of chemicals. Within the context of the podcast, the term refers to a mysterious process that transforms elements or events—in this case, police killings of Black men—into something new—here, a global movement protesting police brutality. According to Gary Younge, the brutal killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer, compounded by many other recent deaths of Black Americans by police, became a larger symbol for people around the world. It came to represent what they see as the failure of America to live up to its stated democratic ideals.

Enlightened

To be aware or informed about a topic that others may not know about. In the podcast, host Michel Martin states that some European nations have a history of acting as if they are more attuned to, better informed, or more enlightened about issues of race than the United States is.

Police brutality

Unnecessary or excessive physical force employed against citizens by law enforcement. Use of this force may extend beyond the bounds of the law, making it an illegal use of force.

Children in cages

Within the context of the podcast, the phrase refers to the Trump Administration’s policy of detaining children who have crossed the U.S.–Mexico border without following the legal process mandated by the United States government. Under the Trump Administration, when children and their parents are apprehended by law enforcement, the families are separated and the children are incarcerated in detention centers.

Solidarity

Within the context of the podcast, this term refers to providing moral support and acting in collaboration with others for a singular purpose. After the killing of George Floyd in May 2020, people around the world provided moral support and participated in protests to oppose police brutality against people of color.