I don’t know the details. For once, heartsick, I didn’t feel like reading more about them. A young man, killed by a police officer, being read his rights as he died before them. That’s all I know. And that this death was immediately racialised and politicised by Nigel Farage, despite the appeal of his parents to not instrumentalise this senseless killing to sow more hate in a world that already seems to be heading irrevocably deeper into a vortex of evil.
The details may eventually matter for understanding how this tragedy unfolded, and for avoiding others. But before arguing over them, there must be the recognition that something more fundamental is the focus: a young man was killed.
Mourning for who he was
We should mourn the life that was taken from him, the future that ended abruptly. We should weep for the person he was, for the parents who will not see their son grow up, and for those who loved him and will never be able to laugh with him again. We should not reduce him to his race, his belief, or his culture, as some seem to be doing.
Thankfully, for most of us, the response to tragedy is neither cynical nor divisive. Alongside those who seek to exploit grief are many more who quietly recognise themselves in another family’s loss and show their support in silent acts of kindness.
In a world where monstrous images daily flash by on television, and social media accounts from war zones cry out until those voices are extinguished, it is perhaps easy to become inured to death. Yet many people struggle against that numbness, refusing to look away or be silenced, even when doing so would be so much easier.
The algorithms of division
Unfortunately, whether by design or by accident, many of our institutions today reward outrage more readily than empathy. The forces that shape public debate and opinions often seem to encourage division because discord – the louder, the better – captures attention and can be more effectively monetized, rage exploited for power.
The ambassadors of these same institutions often tell us that the forces shaping our future are too large to resist, whether technological, economic or political. Tony Blair’s recent editorial on the inexorableness of AI is a prime example, making it seem as though we are already enslaved, chained to a destiny that we cannot influence.
Ordinary people uniting for change
Yet history is full of moments when ordinary people united to change what once seemed inevitable.
The measure of our humanity is not how or whom we blame or condemn – or rage, as some suggest – but how deeply we mourn the life lost. If we cannot find a way to connect with the suffering of another, if every tragedy must first be filtered through the lens of colour, ideology or nationality to deserve compassion, then we are in dire straits indeed. For hatred fears nothing more than our capacity for empathy, and that is precisely why it seeks to destroy it.
There are powerful reasons not to succumb to despair. There are examples that show us we can continue to resist what some would like to make us believe is inevitable.
The power of compassion
Every day, people cross the boundaries that politics, class, race and nationality attempt to impose. They volunteer, care for strangers, donate to causes they will never personally benefit from, and grieve for people they have never met. These acts do not make headlines, but they reveal something important: compassion remains stronger and more widespread than those who profit from division would have us believe.
An innocent man died a cruel death. That fact, sadly, cannot be changed. But we can decide what follows: instead of compounding the tragedy with violence, we can allow this death to remind us instead of the bonds that unite us. Empathy will not bring their son back to the parents who must now face this terrible loss. But it may yet prevent us from losing an essential, human, part of ourselves.
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