Abstract
On 25 May 2020, the death of an unknown Blackman named George Floyd in the Minneapolis United States has led to a wave of global protests worldwide. The United Kingdom was not left out of these protests. The deaths of black people in police custody are not a new unfortunate phenomenon in the United Kingdom. The author looks at some of these deaths in the United Kingdom from a historical perspective, relying on both racial typologies theorists on one side and the responses, provided by Afrocentric theorists on race over time, on the other side. The author relies on several case studies of black deaths and secondary sources, arguing that racism can be held responsible for most of these killings by the police. The research findings are encapsulated in the trio unfortunate incidents of slavery, colonialism, and apartheid. These incidences have metamorphosed over time, becoming a social stigma black people wear from cradle to grave. The author suggests that police officers who murder black people and hide behind the wearing of uniforms should not be given immunity from justice. The author debunks the myth, suggesting that the life of a black person is often portrayed as worthless by whites folks. More findings are that both black lives and every human being's lives matter with great intrinsic value. No life must be wasted under the guise of policing. The right to life unarguably remains the most fundamental human right, which the state must protect at all times. Without the protection of life, all other fundamental human rights become meaningless.
Highlights
The loss of life is not what anyone would want or expect to happen to their loved ones
In other to have a balanced view of black deaths in police custody, it is important to bear in mind that there are other possible causes of deaths in police custody, namely: natural causes, overdoses, suicides, injuries received before detention, medical condition, deliberate self-harm, restraint methods, intoxication and positional asphyxia [1]
They should be accountable for their actions if they carry out unlawful acts against any citizen. It is the lack of proper police accountability that makes it possible for the police to act unlawfully in breach of Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE)
Summary
The loss of life is not what anyone would want or expect to happen to their loved ones. In the first part of the article, the author looks at some case studies of black deaths in police custody in the United Kingdom, exploring the circumstances, surrounding their deaths, taking into consideration that racism may play a contributory part to some of such these deaths. The author for the remit of this article will only explore the issue of race as a contributory factor to black deaths in police custody. For families of the deceased, it can be distressing to learn that someone they were close to has died and that this happened whilst they were in police custody It can be argued, that the police as an apparatus of the state was created to protect the white and affluent good folks from the potential likely attack from members of the dangerous classes, predominately black folks [4]. To hold claim that racism forms a greater explanation as to why a high proportion of blacks are killed in custody
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