Naomi Ebanks, who is a former student of our teacher here at Brampton, visited our A2 Sociology class to deliver a talk on ethnicity and crime. Naomi is an experienced anti-knife campaigner, and so is deeply familiar with this topic. She started by outlining common stereotypes, and challenged our ideas of how we perceive people based on how they look and/or because of the clothes they wear.
This led to the topic of labelling and ethnicity within the criminal justice system. Naomi exemplified the labels attached to different ethnicities with a case study of Mark Duggan, whose death led to the 2011 London riots. Naomi made the point that one of the reasons why these infamous riots occurred was because people felt that their voices were not being heard. In addition, as she pointed out, the police approach to the ‘stop and search’ tactic is a key issue. A jaw-dropping statistic she cited showed that black people are seven times more likely to be stopped and searched; in addition, they are much more likely to receive longer prison sentences.
Naomi highlighted ongoing controversies within our institutions, and attempted to convey that most powerful organizations employ influential individuals whose attitudes might not reflect society’s dominant, egalitarian values, and who let down these organizations. Naomi left a class of A2 sociology students stunned with this presentation due to just how much prejudice still remains in U.K. today.
Alex Samuels A2 Sociology Student
