It has been heartening this week to see people across Andover taking a stand against racism in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter marches across the world.

It comes after black American George Floyd was suffocated by a police officer kneeling on his neck as he was being arrested on May 25 in the city of Minneapolis.

This is the latest in a long line of appalling incidents of police brutality against black people.

I was disappointed to see people commenting beneath the story posted to the Andover Advertiser's Facebook page to say this was an "American problem" and that "all lives matter".

Make no mistake racism is a scourge on our society and is alive and well in Britain. Those ignorant comments only demonstrates a desperate need for mass education on racial inequality in the UK.

Here are some facts: Black people are more than nine times as likely to be stopped and searched by police as white people and over three times as likely to be arrested. Officers are five times as likely to use force against black people, compared to white people. Meanwhile, black women are more likely to die during childbirth because their medical needs are ignored and not prioritised in the way that white women's are.

Reading and hearing stories over the past week has also highlighted the microaggressions black people face on a day to day basis. This is where white people discriminate in an indirect, subtle but no less painful way. It is might be asking to touch someone's hair or asking, "Where are you from?" while ignoring their British accent. Such incidents chip away at individual's self-confidence and sense of belonging.

I was moved by the post written by a black man who said he was too afraid to walk alone in his own neighbourhood because white people stare him and cross the road because they stereotype him. The only time he feels comfortable walking is when he is holding the hand of his daughter.

In order for things to change, the onus is on white people - myself included - to challenge our own behaviour. In order to stamp out racism, we must educate ourselves and others about the issue. We must call out racism when we see or hear it . To be silent, is to be complicit.

Katie French, Editor