{"id":22956,"date":"2019-05-06T16:40:44","date_gmt":"2019-05-06T23:40:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.womeninandbeyond.org\/?p=22956"},"modified":"2022-05-05T18:40:36","modified_gmt":"2022-05-06T01:40:36","slug":"why-does-the-english-government-hate-black-jamaican-woman-pauline-taylor-french","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.womeninandbeyond.org\/?p=22956","title":{"rendered":"Why does the English government hate Black Jamaican woman, Pauline Taylor-French?"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n
\r\n
\"\"

Graham French and Pauline Taylor-French<\/p><\/div>\r\n\r\n<\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Why does the English government hate\u00a0Pauline Taylor-French<\/a>? Pauline Taylor-French is now 45 years old. At the age of 28, Pauline Taylor-French found herself in an abusive relationship, took her two daughters and fled Jamaica. She went to England, where she has lived, and thrived, for 17 years. For 17 years, Pauline Taylor-French lived `legally\u2019 in England on a series of student visas. A few years ago, she met Graham French. Soon after, they established a home together. They became engaged. In 2017, Pauline Taylor and Graham French were engaged and making their wedding plans. Then, in September 2017, Pauline Taylor was taken to Yarl\u2019s Wood, where she was detained for 24 days. Pauline Taylor and Graham French have since married. Pauline Taylor-French is married to a citizen of the United Kingdom. Both of Pauline Taylor-French\u2019s grandmothers were British citizens. Pauline Taylor\u2019s grandfather fought with the Royal Navy in World War II. None of that seems to matter. Why does none of that matter? Why does the English government go out of its way to demonstrate its hatred for Pauline Taylor-French?<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

While in Yarl\u2019s Wood for 24 days, Pauline Taylor-French lost 14 pounds. She engaged in self harm. She was put on suicide watch. Reflecting on their situation, Graham French says, \u201cWhy are they treating us like this? All her family are here, they have settled status, she has British grandparents, she’s married to me I’m a British citizen, we meet all the criteria for a spouse visa. She almost died when she was detained, being sent to Jamaica could kill her.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Being sent to Jamaica could kill her. As far as the English government is concerned, that\u2019s fine. Pauline Taylor-French was never meant to survive: \u201cWhere an application has been refused and a person has no legal basis to remain in the UK, they should make arrangements to leave.\u201d If being in Jamaica kills her, that\u2019s Pauline Taylor-French\u2019s fault. The Home Office is only following orders.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Why does the English government hate Pauline Taylor-French? A year ago, we asked\u00a0why the English government hates 59-year-old Yvonne Williams and 64-year-old Yvonne Smith<\/a>, both originally Jamaican and both with no ties left in Jamaica? Two years ago, we asked\u00a0why the English government hates 61-year old Paulette Wilson<\/a>, born in Jamaica and with no ties left in Jamaica? Nine years ago, we asked why the English government hates Jamaican born asylum seekers\u00a0Denise McNeill, 35 years old, and Shellyann Stupart<\/a>, at that time both involved in a\u00a0hunger strike at Yarl\u2019s Wood<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

In 2014, we asked\u00a0why the English government hates 40-year-old Jamaican born Christine Case<\/a>.\u00a0Officially Christine Case died of a massive pulmonary thromboembolism, but fellow prisoners said Christine Case was denied medical assistance. Christine Case called for help, as she was feeling severe chest pains, and the `care\u2019 she received was paracetamol, a mild analgesic for minor aches and pains.\u00a0\u00a0Serco runs Yarl\u2019s Wood. Serco claimed they have \u201c24-hour, seven-day urgent medical cover on site at Yarl\u2019s Wood.\u201d Ask Christine Case.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

That was 2014. In 1993, immigration officers killed 40-year-old Jamaican\u00a0Joy Gardner<\/a>, 40, as her five-year-old son and her mother watched. Joy Gardner had applied for\u00a0compassionate leave to remain in England<\/a>. She had no idea that her appeal had been denied. The police showed up and opened fire. Twenty years later, Joy Gardner\u2019s mother, Myrna Simpson, says, simply, \u201cWe need justice for our children, our grandchildren and our great-grandchildren.\u201d Who remembers Joy Gardner? Who remembers Christine Case?<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

These Jamaican born women are surrounded and embraced by Black and Brown sisters from across the Global South and East:\u00a0Evenia Mawongera<\/a>, from Zimbabwe;\u00a0Opelo Kgari and Florence Kgari<\/a>, from Botswana;\u00a0Lazia Nabbanja<\/a>,\u00a0Erioth Mwesigwa<\/a>,\u00a0Betty Tibikawa<\/a>, from Uganda;\u00a0Kelechi Chioba<\/a>,\u00a0Aderonke Apata<\/a>, from Nigeria;\u00a0Lydia Besong<\/a>, from Cameroon;\u00a0Dianne Ngoza<\/a>, from the DRC;\u00a0Mabel Gawanas<\/a>, from Namibia;\u00a0Mariam Ibrahim Yusuf<\/a>, from Somalia;\u00a0Chennan Fei<\/a>, from China;\u00a0Shiromini Satkunarajah<\/a>, from Sri Lanka;\u00a0Irene Clennell<\/a>, from Singapore;\u00a0Bita Ghaedi<\/a>, from Iran;\u00a0Azbaa Dar<\/a>, from Pakistan. So many named, so many unnamed. This is but a sliver of the empire of hatred being constructed by immigration regimes, in England, the United States, Australia, and beyond. Why does England hate Pauline Taylor-French?<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

This week the Home Office gave\u00a0Pauline Taylor-French a 30-month stay<\/a>\u2026 and then what? Two years of intense struggle, fear, anxiety, terror do not just go away, nor are they meant to. Too often have we asked why this State or that State hates this Black woman or that Brown woman. The time for questions is over. It\u2019s time, way past time, to turn down the walls, to end the terror, to reckon with the hatred of women of color, to confront the policies that are today\u2019s iteration of empire as genocide. \u201cThey should make arrangements to leave.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\r\n
\"\"

Christine Case<\/p><\/div>\r\n\r\n<\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

(Photo Credit 1: Shropshire Star<\/a>) (Photo Credit 2: BBC<\/a>)<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Why does the English government hate\u00a0Pauline Taylor-French? Pauline Taylor-French is now 45 years old. At the age of 28, Pauline Taylor-French found herself in an abusive relationship, took her two daughters and fled Jamaica. She went to England, where she has lived, and thrived, for 17 years. For 17 years, Pauline Taylor-French lived `legally\u2019 in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[3729,114,945,556,689,6013,6353,6354,470,6196,6195],"class_list":["post-22956","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","tag-christine-case","tag-dan-moshenberg","tag-denise-mcneil","tag-haunts","tag-joy-gardner","tag-paulette-wilson","tag-pauline-taylor-french","tag-shellyann-stupart","tag-yarls-wood","tag-yvonne-smith","tag-yvonne-williams","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.womeninandbeyond.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22956","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.womeninandbeyond.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.womeninandbeyond.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.womeninandbeyond.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.womeninandbeyond.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22956"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/www.womeninandbeyond.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22956\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25999,"href":"http:\/\/www.womeninandbeyond.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22956\/revisions\/25999"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.womeninandbeyond.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22956"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.womeninandbeyond.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22956"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.womeninandbeyond.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22956"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}