Book Review - Kill The Black One First

Kill The Black one first is a memoir written by Michael Fuller who was Britain’s first Black Chief of Police and one of the highest ranking Black officers in the UK before his retirement. It follows his life from his childhood in care to his time in the police force as he rose up the ranks. It doesn’t shy away from the racism he experienced and at certain points can verge upon an uncomfortable read as a result. It shows the effect the seemingly constant racism he had to deal with throughout his career.

A recurring point that comes across throughout the book and spanned his career is the casual racism that he was subjected to from his fellow officers. Often this took the form of supposedly harmless banter. The kind of terms and slurs were thrown about which should have been considered highly offensive but were instead considered as mere jokes. Fuller describes a career and institution in which he almost seemed trapped and forced to go along with it, feeling unable to challenge such behaviour without appearing oversensitive, as he puts it. This element of having to keep your head down, not speak up and be one of the guys in order to get on is further propped up by the institution itself as it is made clear that if he were to speak up, particularly earlier in his career, very little if anything would be done. Later in his career, particularly once he’s moved up the ranks, he gradually became more vocal about the racism surrounding him such as his growing efforts to get the police to take ‘Yardie’ related murders more seriously. One part in particular stands out in which he confronts some officers casually using the ‘N’ word. The officers claimed that he misheard and they were talking about a friend called “Nicky”. What stands out about this event is not just the fact that he is directly confronting racism, which happened a few times through the book, but the complete lack of support he received from those around him with his quite reasonable challenge being received with silence and awkward glances.

Instances such as this and others as noted above can make this an uncomfortable read in places but that is a good thing. All to often when dealing with a subject like racism the impulse can be to couch it in the past, presenting racism as a thing that used to be a problem. If it is depicted as something from an earlier time racism can be an easier subject to broach as people reading can nod their head sagely and think on how far we’ve come. There is an element of that here with some of the more overt racism taking place earlier in his career in the 70’s and 80’s but the book makes sure to remind readers that we have not made that much progress when it brings up the Stephen Lawrence enquiry. This was a much more recent example of racism from the police and a very public failing for the police force. In a later part of the book Fuller does talk about the enquiry and the fallout, albeit with a more analytical and removed position. As could be expected given that it is his memoir, he focuses on his role in the aftermath as he was asked for his recommendations for how to combat racism in the police and improve relations between the police and the various communities they serve. His recommendations were not met with open arms, but he felt this was an opportunity to make a small difference at least, so he stood his ground. There is an instance here which stands out when, after the MacPherson Report called the police institutionally racist, several of his fellow officers spoke to him asking what he thought and saying they were not racist. While he could easily have said something to absolve them of their biases both overt and covert, he instead affirmed the findings of the report despite the hostility he received in response.

At 320 pages there is more brought up and discussed in this book than can reasonably fit in a review. He also talks about the alienation he felt from the black community for joining the police, feeling the need to cover up his occupation when at the barbers to give one example. Ultimately this is a well written book by a man who has spent his life thus far exceeding the expectations of others; expectations based on nothing more than his race, and the circumstances of his upbringing. There are some hard truths which can be taken from this book for the police force, and for society in general. The idea that racism is something we used to have but fixed with a few laws is a popular one which a lot of people hold to avoid these truths. This book and the stories and experiences within it are a useful reminder of how far we still have to go. 

Kill The Black One First is written by Michael Fuller, and published by 535.