Protesters call for more diversity on juries after boy’s death
BLACK LIVES MATTER EVENT IN CITY CENTRE
DOZENS of protesters took to the streets of Derby city centre calling for, amongst other things, equality when it comes to the number of Black people on juries in Britain’s courtrooms.
The protest, on Saturday, followed the death of schoolboy DeaJohn Reid, in Birmingham in May 2020, which his mother described as “reminiscent of a scene from Mississippi Burning”.
“There were 11 white members on the jury and one Asian person, but there was not any Black representation at all,” said Sophie Nelson, chair of the Black Lives Matter Derby Next Gen movement.
“We were signing petitions campaigning for the change of jury and it was also for us to make a stand to ensure that our Black views in Derby are heard and protected.”
Jurors are selected at random from the electoral register but Miss Nelson wants to see a change in how juries are made up in order to better represent the communities the courts are based in.
The demonstration was held in collabo- ration with the Justice 4 DeaJohn Reid Campaign. There was a suggestion box to collect concerns and hopes for change for the young Black community in Derby, as well as poetry. The suggestions collected will be taken to Derby’s opportunity board on July 28 to ensure Black people are as represented as possible.
There is precedent in the USA for ensuring equal representation of ethnic minorities when there is a case that may involve an act of racial discrimination, and demonstrators hope similar changes will be made in the UK.
They are also working with the
Justice 4 Dea-John Reid Campaign to raise money to reopen the court case into Dea-John’s death. Miss Nelson told the Derby Telegraph that, despite the Black Lives Matter movement now being in its third year, there was still a long way to go before equality throughout society was achieved and she was disappointed with the turnout at Saturday’s protest. She said: “I was disappointed with the turnout yesterday in town but it did eventually build up and people did attend which made a huge difference. “Compared with the George Floyd protest that happened in 2020, there were thousands of people then who were in Derby protesting, which is hugely important, but this is happening to our children, this is happening to young Black children in England. I was just disappointed to see the difference in energy compared with the George Floyd protests in 2020.
“It kind of seems now that the pandemic’s over and people are back to their normal lives, the energy isn’t the same and it’s heartbreaking,” Miss Nelson said.
She said she wants to see juries being selected that represent their local community: “Birmingham is a multi-cultural city and that jury didn’t represent every aspect of Birmingham life, so we want to see juries made up in a way that does represent the cities.”
Miss Nelson admitted that all of the issues on the Black Lives Matter agenda probably will not be resolved in the short term but added: “We just want to create more opportunities for the Black youth of our city. We want our Black youth to feel like they can get involved and can have these opportunities.”
We just want to create more opportunities for the Black youth of our city.
Sophie Nelson