THE DEATH of George Floyd has understandably sparked a wave of anger, frustration as well as an unprecedented desire for change around the world. 

No longer can the racism and discrimination – both overt and systemic – that black people face every day be ignored or left unchallenged.

Communities across the globe are coming together to say ‘enough’. Enough of generations of discrimination. Enough of centuries of lack of opportunity. Enough of this never-ending injustice.

I don’t remember a time in my life when so many people have united with one voice to say that change must happen.

As a person of colour, I am only too aware of the racism that still exists in our society – even in a city as cosmopolitan as London. 

Even so, I could not presume to know what it is like to live as a black person in Britain, with the very particular ways that stereotyping, prejudice and discrimination continuously impact on black lives and livelihoods.

‘Racism is endemic’

Racism is endemic across our institutions and all aspects of our lives and society need to be reviewed – from the underrepresentation of black Brits in positions of power and influence, to their overrepresentation in the criminal justice system. 

We must also look hard at the economic struggles faced by our black communities – including the disproportionately high rates of poverty, low pay and poor housing they experience.

Our capital’s diversity is our greatest strength, yet our statues, road names and public spaces reflect a bygone era. 

It is an uncomfortable truth that much of our capital’s and nation’s wealth was derived from the slave trade – the barbaric trafficking of African men, women and children into lives of unimaginable violence, cruelty and hardship. 

Harrowing legacy

This harrowing legacy is one which still affects black communities today, yet slave-owners are celebrated in our public realm while the contributions of our black communities are absent from our history books and public spaces, having been erased or wilfully ignored.

It’s right we are now questioning whether these statues and other memorials should still stand and I’m pleased we have already seen action taken in London to remove the statues of the slaver Robert Milligan, Thomas Guy and Robert Clayton from London.

We must ensure that we celebrate the achievements and diversity of everyone in our city, and that we commemorate those who have made London the city it is today. 

That’s why I am creating a Commission to look at diversity in London’s public realm, and why I have firmly supported a number of new memorials in our capital, including for Stephen Lawrence, the Windrush Generation and a National Slavery Memorial.

But there is so much more that needs to change in our city and our society.

Racial injustice

The COVID-19 crisis has thrown the complex and enduring realities of racial injustice into stark relief and exposed vast inequalities within our society. 

ONS figures have shown that black men and women are nearly twice as likely to die from COVID-19 than white men and women, after taking into account age and socio-demographic factors.

This is an outrage and cannot simply be swept under the carpet.

The government’s review of COVID-19 inequalities was simply not good enough. 

It has a responsibility to do more than tell us what we already know. 

After a delay, it has finally published the work of Public Health England in full, but it must not waste any more time. It must take immediate action to prevent the unfair and avoidable impacts of COVID-19 falling so heavily on BAME communities by implementing the recommendations of the report.

Austerity

I welcome the promise from the Prime Minister that the government will now look at discrimination in our public institutions, but the truth is that we already know what action is needed from the many race reviews of the recent past – the government should be taking that action now. 

It needs to recognise the impact that a decade of austerity has had on black communities and instigate the far-reaching, systemic reforms we need.

As Mayor, I continue to call for an independent public inquiry into the inequalities experienced by communities during this pandemic, just as I have called for ethnicity data to be added to death certificates and for the Equality and Human Rights Commission to undertake a full statutory investigation into structural racial inequalities. 

I recently chaired the first meeting of London’s COVID-19 Recovery Board and as part of that I’m committed to addressing the longstanding inequalities faced by too many Londoners as we emerge from this crisis. 

I also continue to meet with community representatives to provide all the support I can and I am pleased that we have introduced risk assessments across the GLA family, including Transport for London, the Metropolitan Police and London Fire Brigade, to consider the physical and mental wellbeing of all vulnerable staff at this time.

But there is still much more to be done, not least in policing – a service under renewed scrutiny. 

The Met has a long history of policing by consent and is home to some of the finest officers in the world who carry out their duties with diligence, respect and genuine care for their communities. 

They work tirelessly to tackle violence and protect people, yet the fact remains that if you are a black Londoner you are more likely to be stopped and searched, more likely to be arrested and more likely to receive a longer sentence for a crime than a white Londoner. 

It is an uncomfortable truth that much of our capital’s and nation’s wealth was derived from the slave trade – the barbaric trafficking of African men, women and children into lives of unimaginable violence, cruelty and hardship. This harrowing legacy is one which still affects black communities today, yet slave-owners are celebrated in our public realm while the contributions of our black communities are absent from our history books and public spaces

Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London

Young black men are 8.5 times more likely to be the victim of homicide in London compared to white males, and made up 40 per cent of homicide victims in 2019. 

Even during this pandemic, black Londoners have received a disproportionately high number of Fixed Penalty Notices for breaking lockdown rules. This cannot be right and I am well aware from the regular engagement I have with black Londoners the strength of feeling arising from George Floyd’s death, the use of tasers, excessive force and stop and search.

We must continue to build trust between the police and Black communities in particular so that every Londoner, regardless of background or postcode can feel safe, protected and served. 

This is why I have commissioned my Deputy Mayors for Policing and Community Engagement to develop an action plan for improving confidence, transparency and accountability and why I am working closely with the Met Commissioner to improve representation and ensure a zero-tolerance approach to racism and discrimination within the force. As the Black Lives Matter movement is showing, there are no quick fixes for structural issues, so we must all keep listening and learning.

At a time when the social and political landscape has long been in flux, it is clear that another seismic shift is now underway. 

After centuries of racial discrimination and injustice, it should never have taken the brutal death of a black man, by police officers, for the world to sit up and take notice, but taken notice it has. 

So let’s seize this moment – not only to remove the symbols of oppression that loom over us, but to begin tearing down the whole edifice of structural racism that does so much to limit the potential, and damage the life chances, of black Brits. 

If we work together – black, white, Asian and people of every background – I’m convinced we can accomplish this goal and achieve the fairer and more equal future everyone deserves.