Black Resistance to British Policing

Citation

Elliott-Cooper, A. (2021). Black Resistance to British Policing. Manchester University Press. (Racism, Resistance and Social Change series.)

Chapter Summary

Context and Argument

Black Resistance to British Policing is a short book of about 224 pages, from the Racism, Resistance and Social Change series, on the history of Black struggle against policing in Britain. Elliott-Cooper argues that racism should be understood beyond prejudice and interpersonal behaviour, as part of a global system of racial classification, exploitation and violence, and that Black resistance confronts that system. Police racism, in this account, is tied to imperial cultures and policies and to colonial war and policing, and the book follows these links from the twentieth century into the present. It draws on a decade of activist research on spontaneous rebellion, campaigns and protest, and it is written from a position that favours abolition rather than reform of policing.

The book has an introduction, six chapters and a conclusion. The chapters run roughly in time from post-war Caribbean migration to present-day policing and the possibilities of abolition.

Chapter 1: ‘We did not come alive in Britain’: Histories of Black resistance to British policing

The opening chapter traces how Black resistance to policing grew out of anti-colonial politics. It begins with Caribbean migrants who met racial hostility in Britain, and uses the speeches and writings of John La Rose to show how those experiences were linked to earlier struggles in the Caribbean. Early Black political organisations of the post-war years, often with roots in Caribbean trade unions, are shown resisting racial violence and police brutality. The chapter argues that resistance to policing belongs to a wider struggle against capitalism and imperialism.

Chapter 2: Into the twenty-first century: Resistance, respectability and Black deaths in police custody

The chapter moves to the period around the turn of the century and to the tension between respectability and protest in campaigns about Black deaths in custody. It discusses the campaign led by Stephen Lawrence's family and the institutional racism it exposed, and criticises state-led anti-racism for focusing on diversity and representation rather than on the causes of racism.

Chapter 3: Black masculinity and criminalisation: The 2011 ‘riots’ in context

This chapter looks at how Black men are portrayed as criminal, and how that portrayal justifies aggressive policing. It sets the August 2011 disorders against a longer history of racialised policing, and examines the part played by media coverage and political language in stigmatising Black communities.

Chapter 4: 2011: Revolt and community defence

Returning to 2011, the chapter treats the unrest as rooted in long-standing grievances about police violence and social injustice, not as spontaneous violence. It also considers community defence, in which local people organised to protect themselves, as a form of resistance with a history.

Chapter 5: All-out war: Surveillance, collective punishment and the cutting edge of police power

The chapter examines militarised policing and the use of surveillance, tracing some of these methods to colonial counter-insurgency and their adaptation to managing unrest at home. It argues that they fall disproportionately on Black communities, with collective punishment and heavier surveillance as results, and it considers the effects of counter-terrorism policing on civil liberties.

Chapter 6: Futures of Black resistance: Disruption, rebellion, abolition

The final chapter turns to the future. It is sceptical of incremental reform and argues for disruption, sustained rebellion and the abolition of the structures that sustain police and prison power, while stressing international solidarity and the link between racism and capitalism.

Key Concepts

Chapters 1–2

• Anti-colonial roots of anti-racism: the view that Black resistance in Britain continues earlier struggles against empire.
• Respectability politics: the pressure on campaigns to present themselves as respectable in order to be heard.
• State-led anti-racism: official responses to racism that stress diversity and representation.

Chapters 3–6

• Criminalisation of Black masculinity: the portrayal of Black men as inherently criminal.
• Community defence: collective self-protection against police violence.
• Collective punishment and surveillance: practices that treat a whole community as a target.
• Abolition: the argument for dismantling, not reforming, police and prison power.

Critical Analysis

Strengths

• A historical frame for current events. By beginning with post-war Caribbean migration and its anti-colonial background, the book places well-known events such as the Stephen Lawrence case and the 2011 disorders in a longer story.
• A definition of racism beyond prejudice. Treating racism as a global system of classification, exploitation and violence gives students a clear alternative to individual-attitude accounts.
• Short and focused. At about 224 pages with six chapters, the book is easy to divide among seminar groups.

Limitations

• A committed argument, not a survey. The book argues for a position, the abolition of police power, and does not set out the full range of scholarly debate on policing, so it is best read next to a general text.
• Named British cases. The chapters build on events such as the Stephen Lawrence case and the 2011 disorders, so readers who do not know them may need background reading.
• Scope. The focus is Black communities and Britain; other groups affected by policing and comparisons with other countries are not the book's main subject.

Where It Fits in the Course

In this course on race and ethnicity, Black Resistance to British Policing is a case study of one institution and one national setting. The introductions by Kivisto and Croll (Race and Ethnicity: The Basics), Rattansi (Racism: A Very Short Introduction) and Garner (Racisms: An Introduction) supply the vocabulary of race, racism and racialisation that Elliott-Cooper's argument builds on. Omi and Winant's Racial Formation in the United States offers a theory of how race is made through state policy and struggle, which is a useful comparison for the British case. Bhattacharyya and colleagues' Empire's Endgame treats racism and the British state at graduate level and fits well as a companion.

How to Use This Book

The book is accessible to undergraduates, and no specialist background is needed beyond some familiarity with modern British history. Read the introduction and Chapter 1 first for the historical frame, then Chapters 2 to 4 together as a block on campaigns and the 2011 disorders, and Chapter 5 for the discussion of policing methods. Chapter 6 and the conclusion are the argumentative end point and can be read last or in a seminar on abolition.

While reading, note for each chapter what kind of evidence is used and how the author connects it to the larger argument. Pair the book with one of the general introductions above to separate the book's own claims from the standard background in the sociology of race.