Weathering: Racism in the shadow of COVID-19 in the UK | Race Issues

Two Black essential workers share their experiences of racism in the UK.

Dwayne and Neomi share their experiences of racism at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom as the Black Lives Matter movement erupted worldwide after the murder of George Floyd in the United States.

“I find it so stressful … having family members who could also be the next person suffering at the hands of the police,” says Neomi, a nurse practitioner.

Neomi was arrested under the police’s “stop and search” powers but, as also happened with Dwayne, her case was overturned.

Dwayne is a secondary school inclusion manager who says, “It’s that acceptance … that it’s going to happen. It feels like we’re just weathering it.”