A rotten system that fails to protect black people

An unlikely link between the museums of South Kensington and the protests in the US city of Ferguson has been revealed.

Disobedient Objects, an exhibition at London’s Victoria & Albert Museum, features a history of civil unrest and shows how to make a DIY gas mask. In case you’re interested, you’ll need a plastic bottle large enough for the width of your face, a dust mask soaked in vinegar , and sticky foam insulation tape. Oh, and a Stanley knife and a marker, to cut the right shape. And some elastic to fasten it around your head.

People in Ferguson have been very interested in this how-to guide, as their local police force repeatedly shoots tear gas into their midst. A Ferguson citizen told a BBC radio programme how ordinary people, unable to afford military-grade tear gas protection, have been referring to the V&A website and making their own, to protect themselves from those whose job description includes the term “to protect and serve”. (If you have been on a long holiday: a white police officer shot dead an unarmed black teenager and was not charged with any crime. Again).

One of the most repeated phrases to come from the Ferguson situation has been that “a system cannot fail those it was never built to protect”. This has been attributed to a variety of people, from William Dubois, co-founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP) in 1909, to Rhianna on Twitter. It hardly matters who said it — the stark reality is its truth. Or as law professor and Detroit native Khaled A Beydoun wrote in an Al Jazeera analysis, “Racism historically, and still today, stands as America’s sectarianism.”

Racism needs two things to work properly — a vilification of racial identity and the continued exoneration of assailants. Or as several protest banners put it, “Black crime = gang violence, Arab crime = terrorism, White crime = self-defence.”

Black Americans make up 1 million of America’s 2.3 million jail population, despite comprising around 13% of the population. The NAACP reckons if current trends continue, one in three of all black American males born now will grow up to spend time in prison. In America, five times as many white people use illegal drugs as black people, but black people are jailed at ten times the rate of white people for drug-related charges. Black school children are more than twice as likely to be suspended or expelled, 35% compared with 15% of white school children. These figures don’t need accompanying words. You can draw your own conclusions. If you are racist, you will surmise black Americans are a bunch of criminals, and need locking up or shooting or both. If you are not racist, you will be wondering how much longer before things change, and how many more black lives will be destroyed, before the whole rotten system is dismantled and overhauled. Yes, you will be wondering. Try not to turn blue while holding your breath.