Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. So there’s this white guy right, big guy, burly, none too bright. All his life he feels like the dumb muscle. The weapon for others to use. One day he decides he doesn’t much care about being the weapon, it pays doesn’t it? So he gets a job, a simple job really, it’s a police officer, it’s a prison guard, it’s guarding refugees. He’s finally in charge, big meat headed weapon in charge of a group of people.
One of them dies.
Well, I say dies. He’s murdered. He’s murdered by him and his mates for the crime of showing insufficient respect whilst being black.
Now, does it surprise you that he’s shared racist jokes about n****** with his mates? Mates who also happen to work at G4S.
Jokes like:
What’s the difference between a cricket bat and a teatowel? Fuck all. They both wrap round a Muslim’s head nicely. Happy St George’s Day.
And:
I walked past a blind black guy begging in the street. He said, ‘Any change, mate?’ I said, ‘Nope, you’re still a n*gger’.
Here’s the thing, you have heard this story before. You’ve heard it when Trayvon Martin was murdered. When Tamir Rice was murdered. When we couldn’t breath. When we wanted to know what happened to Sandy Bland.
You’ve heard it and you’ve pretended that it was an American problem. You’ve scoffed when Black Lives Matter practiced civil disobedience in Nottingham and London. You’ll probably scoff again when you hear they’re protesting at Heathrow.
The problems here aren’t as big you might imagine. You might pretend.
In 2010 Jimmy Mubenga was killed by people working for G4S whilst they were under contract from the state. Jimmy Mubenga was a healthy 46 year old with a wife and family. His only crime was being in the country illegally, something that usually doesn’t carry a death sentence.
I say killed because I can’t say murdered for fear of legal action. Jimmy’s killers were acquitted of manslaughter in 2014. The jury weren’t shown the 66 racist texts the killers shared.
Jimmy Mubenga said one thing just before he died.
“I can’t breathe.”
Jimmy Mubenga died at Heathrow. Where today’s protests are taking place.
His killers deserve full responsibility for the death they caused. They must own it, live with it and I hope it haunts them. However, I have to ask how these racists were allowed in a position where the lives of BME people depended on them.
The answer is G4S. Who don’t give a damn.
G4S were in charge of security on that flight.
They employed these men.
They let Jimmy Mubenga die.
The same G4S whose youth detention centre was slammed as racist and degrading. A prison for children that was the “worst prison” the inspector had even seen. Who ran healthcare at the vile Yarl’s wood. A place where rape, sexual abuse and racism were common. Who put racist supervisors in a place where they could racially abuse BME members of staff.
G4S with a long and illustrious history of complaints about racism.
The same G4S who the government just put in charge of the discrimination helpline.
A government that works for all.*
*Offer only open to white people.
