Like everyone else, I have been deeply affected by the horrific killing of George Floyd. I, too, have struggled to make sense of it, and the events that followed. I am still struggling to gain perspective. 

When I heard the news, the first thing that I did was to text my black friends and colleagues to see how they were and to express my solidarity.

We, as Jews, know better than most that this cause is our cause. We are a people used to having our voices silenced, overlooked or distorted;  our lives belittled and cheapened. We understand the anger. 

The calls of the black community sounded eerily familiar: “This is not an issue of right or left, it is an issue of right or wrong”. I heard a well-known echo of a community desperate for their message not to be politicised. 

Inevitably, it was politicised, with some on the left accusing anyone voicing concern about the violence of some of the protests – and the lack of social distancing - as racist, and some on the right focussing solely on the negative aspects of the demonstrations and ignoring the urgency of the battle against anti-black racism.

I felt the narrative had become polarised — and I felt trapped in the middle.

I called up an admired friend, originally from Cameroon, whose openness and compassion meant I knew I could speak my mind. “I support the struggle against anti-black racism. But I have worries about the way it has been expressed by some,” I said. 

At the end of a long conversation we concluded that, however awkward it may feel, the middle is where we need to be. It is the only option. To be clear, the middle does not mean any compromise with racism. The middle is a place away from the rage and polarised debate where we can tackle it effectively.

It is a place where – together – we identify strategies to combat structural racism in society. Where we refuse to dismiss the layers upon layers of grievances among a people with a history of persecution. It is where we can have conversations about how to honour and protect people’s differences. Where we can embrace those who feel judged and marginalised by our own community. The middle is where we fully recognise another’s experience and then fully commit to a more tolerant and hopeful future together.

Chana Hughes is a pyschotherapist and rebbetzen of Radlett United shul