Manchester University Press
4 2011
Abstract
This chapter focuses on black resistance to British policing in the aftermath of the 2011 ‘riots’. The historical section of this chapter offers an account of a very recent history – the media reports and police and political rhetoric which began in the twenty-first century, concerned with ‘gang crime’. This provides some context for an analysis of the 2011 civil unrest and of three community-led defence campaigns. The first of these, the Tottenham Defence Campaign, is one of the many local initiatives which sprang up to challenge the increase in arrests, raids and imprisonment following the 2011 revolts. The second campaign concerns Mauro Demetrio, a young black man violently assaulted by police in the aftermath of the 2011 unrest. Finally, the chapter turns to the inquiry into the police killing of Mark Duggan, and how his family-led campaign challenged racism from the media, politicians and the criminal justice system. These forms of black community defence echo similar campaigns in previous decades and, like those outlined in Chapters 1 and 2, also draw on histories of anti-colonial struggle.
Abstract
This chapter focuses on black resistance to British policing in the aftermath of the 2011 ‘riots’. The historical section of this chapter offers an account of a very recent history – the media reports and police and political rhetoric which began in the twenty-first century, concerned with ‘gang crime’. This provides some context for an analysis of the 2011 civil unrest and of three community-led defence campaigns. The first of these, the Tottenham Defence Campaign, is one of the many local initiatives which sprang up to challenge the increase in arrests, raids and imprisonment following the 2011 revolts. The second campaign concerns Mauro Demetrio, a young black man violently assaulted by police in the aftermath of the 2011 unrest. Finally, the chapter turns to the inquiry into the police killing of Mark Duggan, and how his family-led campaign challenged racism from the media, politicians and the criminal justice system. These forms of black community defence echo similar campaigns in previous decades and, like those outlined in Chapters 1 and 2, also draw on histories of anti-colonial struggle.
Chapters in this book
- Front matter i
- Contents vii
- List of figures viii
- Acknowledgements ix
- List of abbreviations xi
- Introduction 1
- 1 ‘We did not come alive in Britain’ 21
- 2 Into the twenty-first century 53
- 3 Black masculinity and criminalisation 86
- 4 2011 111
- 5 All-out war 135
- 6 Futures of Black resistance 164
- Conclusion 184
- Notes 192
- Index 218
Chapters in this book
- Front matter i
- Contents vii
- List of figures viii
- Acknowledgements ix
- List of abbreviations xi
- Introduction 1
- 1 ‘We did not come alive in Britain’ 21
- 2 Into the twenty-first century 53
- 3 Black masculinity and criminalisation 86
- 4 2011 111
- 5 All-out war 135
- 6 Futures of Black resistance 164
- Conclusion 184
- Notes 192
- Index 218
