"I wonder sometimes if I was ever over-looked in the past because of how my name looked on my CV"

Lichfield is a very diverse place, full of people of all ethnicities and colours. One of these is black citizen Desriee Tiwalade. She was moved by the Black lives matter protests in Lichfield, however, she is of the opinion that Lichfield may possess an unconscious bias amongst the community.

The Black Lives Matter movement really took off when George Ffloyd died, many people feeling he was unfairly murdered. Desriee holds the same opinion.

“George Ffloyd was murdered. Plain and simple. Whether you like it or not his colour mattered in that situation. Regarding our own situation here, maybe it has a lot to do with unconscious bias as we tend to gravitate towards people we like or relate to meaning we often overlook people who are just as or even more deserving as a result.”

Living in Lichfield and her background have given her a strong opinion on the matter, saying that people’s upbringing directly affects their outlook.

“Racism and prejudice often isn’t overt and obvious but similarly you can’t escape the fact that people hold preconceived views due to their own upbringing or who they engage with. I wonder sometimes if I was ever over-looked in the past because of how my name looked on my CV but I'm not gonna dwell on it. About Black Lives Matter - the peeps trying to counter it with the whole “all lives matter” sadly miss the point. Some lives haven’t mattered as much as they should have done and no one has ever disputed that all lives matter.”

Desriee explains why she has the opinion the ‘all lives matter’ is a selfish comment to make under the media posts about the protests.

“There are so many helpful analogies to explain why the “all lives matter” is a bit stupid and selfish, it doesn’t take much Googling to find a few examples. I've also seen people say but a lot of black people also kill black people but that is a stupid counter argument to GF’s murder. Why do more black people happen to live in deprived areas? Why is there lots of social and economic inequality? Isn’t this borne out of the fact that not enough has been done to address these issues?”

George Ffloyd and the Black Lives Matter movement has shed light on issues that should not be issues. Black citizens everywhere outraged at the mistreatment that they have suffered for years and years. People are finally standing up and doing something about it.

To show your support or to donate, visit: https://blacklivesmatter.uk/