February 24, 2022

56. Death on camera: How can we tackle white fragility?

37 minutes

In 1998, Christopher Alder spent the evening at the "student night" of a nightclub in Hull, England. The night escalated dramatically and eventually lead to a national conversation about racism and the police's treatment of Black people. A video released years after Alder's tragic death revealed audible "monkey noises", reviving the discussion about the case and the important issues it raises.

In this episode of Bad People Dr Julia Shaw and Sofie Hagen discuss the circumstances that led to Christopher Alder's death, and how the case relates to Stephen Lawrence and the MacPherson report. They discuss institutional racism and why white people need to identify and dismantle their own white fragility.

Warning: This episode contains graphic descriptions of violence and racism.

CREDITS

Presenters: Dr Julia Shaw and Sofie Hagen

Producer: Simona Rata

Music: Matt Chandler

Editor: Rami Tzabar

Academic Consultants for The Open University: Lara Frumkin and James Munro

#BadPeople_BBC

Commissioning Assistant Producer: Adam Eland

Commissioning Executive: Dylan Haskins

Bad People is produced in partnership with The Open University and is a BBC Audio Science Production for BBC Sounds.

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