The horrific broad-daylight killing of Nahel M., a 17-year-old boy of Moroccan and Algerian descent, by French police demonstrates something we know all too well—violence against Black folks is not limited to the United States; it is a global atrocity. True liberation will only come when the ingrained structures of White supremacy are fully dismantled, and the inherent human dignity of Black people is truly valued.
The ongoing dehumanization of Black lives is a centuries-old story. If not for cell phone video, this tragic killing would be one more inconvenient truth ignored by entrenched systems of power. Instead, for the fourth day in a row, protests continue to sweep across France as the next generation is no longer willing to wait for an ongoing and little-realized promise of reform in France. While violence is always shocking to see, the current protests are nothing in comparison to the centuries of violence Black people have endured in country after country, continent after continent, in the more than 400-year history of global oppression, subjugation, and brutality, which forms the backbone of anti-blackness.
At the Center for Policing Equity, we are wholly devoted to dismantling the entrenched racism that pervades public safety systems. We stand in solidarity with all those seeking to bring about wholesale change in addressing systems of anti-Blackness. What is happening in France is further proof that our work is not only vital in the United States, but these efforts must extend beyond our shores, demanding a global response to advance the work of racial liberation.