The thing that needs to change is white people

by Holly Worton · June 3, 2021

This blog post is the second part of my post “Am I My Brothers Keeper? Speaking about race in US prisons” However today, the focus turns on the UK. Racial disparity can also be found in the criminal justice system in the UK.

In 2017, a black labour politician named David Lammy was asked to undergo a review of racial discrimination in prison systems in the UK (England and Wales). It is important to recognise that Scotland is not part of UK parliament when it comes to the justice system. This simply means Scotland is responsible for Scottish justice. This review was then named the Lammy review.

The Lammy review found extreme and disturbing cases of racial bias in the justice system in the UK (again, England and Wales).

So where are your excuses now? Where are your “We aren’t as bad as America?” comments? You cannot move forward and challenge racial bias in prison without first questioning your own white supremacy and challenging a system that is racist. The statistics are there for everyone to see. Does society care less when you are behind the walls of a prison? Am I My Brothers Keeper?

Recently we have taken part in Anti-Racist training delivered by Naomi Shoba and Laurie Brown with particular focus to Anti-Racism in the arts. Personal reflection as a white person as to where you sit on this scale below made by Janet Helms in 1984 is important. It is difficult to place where both the American and Scottish system would sit on this scale, because it differs from prison to prison, person to person, prison officer to prison officer. Creating a language surrounding race where white people must do the work to be anti-racist is key. The conversation must continue. I hope one day the prison system enters the red zone (seen below) where it becomes knowledgeable and active when it comes to the conversation of race and puts into place consideration and understanding of why we see the same demographic of people enter our prison systems. How can this work in a prison system where racism is so deeply rooted?