Noughts + Crosses

I recently binge watched the series Noughts and Crosses, which is based on the 2001 novel of the same name by Malorie Blackman.  The concept of this story is unique. We know through history that Europeans colonised other countries and oppressed its people, including Africans. Now imagine a world where this is flipped, where Africans (referred to as Apricans on the show) colonise Europe and oppress Europeans instead. This story explores this narrative. The black Apricans are 'Crosses' and the white Europeans are 'Noughts'.

This series is set in Albion (England). The black Crosses are the ruling minority. They are in the positions of power, they live in the richest areas, they have the best schools, and have all the privilege. Aprican culture influences everything in Albion including the clothing, architecture of the buildings, music and hairstyles. The white Noughts on the other hand are poor, have no power, do not have as much rights, and live in the poorest areas.  They do not have access to the privileges that the Crosses have.

The story follows the lives of Sephy and Callum. Sephy is a black Cross who is the daughter of a Politician. She is born into wealth and privilege. Callum on the other hand is a white Nought, who is a  the son of a domestic worker that is employed by Sephy's family. Callum's family are poor and endure the struggles of being white. Callum and Sephy end up falling in love with each other in a world where interracial relationships are illegal.

One of the themes explored in the series is Police brutality. (Spoiler Alert) This is shown in one of the early scenes, when Callum, his brother Jude and friend Danny are at a social gathering with other Noughts.  The Police (who are black)  come and use their position of power to abuse  Callum and Danny. Danny gets severely injured by the Police and ends up in hospital.  Throughout the series, it shows that there is always a heavy police presence when Noughts have any kind of public gathering, including a vigil they have for Danny, and a Nought festival called midsummer (the Nought equivalent to Notting Hill carnival). In a latter episode, Callum shares how he has been stopped and searched by Police around 300 times which appears to be the norm for Noughts. Death in custody is also explored when Callum's father is killed in prison, however the officials report that the death was a suicide. This is a narrative which is true for many black men who are consistently stopped and searched by Police more than their white peers and are more likely to die in custody.

Another theme explored is black beauty. In the first episode, Callum is completely captivated by Sephy's beauty. Sephy is a dark skinned black woman with black features. She always wears her hair in its natural afro state. Even the billboards in Albion promote this standard of beauty. There has been no influence of European beauty standards. There are some Noughts who wear braids and curls to assimilate with the Crosses. Watching this made me wish that African beauty standards in the mainstream would exist in today's world. European beauty standards have been so ingrained in us that  characteristics associated with Africans e.g. kinky hair, broad noses, dark skin are equated with ugliness, whereas lighter skin, straighter har, and thin noses are equated with beauty. This is why there are some black women who go to great lengths to try to erase their blackness in the name of beauty.  Unfortunately,  when black beauty is promoted in the mainstream it is usually someone who is mixed or is racially ambiguous.  To see a white man on the show so enthralled by the natural beauty of an unambiguous black woman is something we rarely ever see in real life.

Everything in Albion society is catered to the black Crosses.   The concept of nude colours is briefly addressed. There is a scene when Callum cuts his finger and Sephy puts a plaster on it. The plaster is brown and you can see the contrast between the brown plaster and Callum's white skin. It made me realise how something as minor as the  plasters we use in real life, match the skin tone of white people and do not cater to those of us with darker skin (though there are a few brands that have created plasters for darker skin).

The Crosses are openly racist to Noughts.  The education system promotes the idea of Noughts being inferior while Crosses are superior. One of the biggest newspapers in Albion publishes stories which portray the white Noughts as 'thugs' and paints them in a negative light (like we see newspapers do to black people in real life). The racist term for white people is "Blanca" which is equivalent to the word "nigger". The racist term for those who are mixed is "halfer". In this society, white people are required to sit at the back of the bus .  In the series, Callum wishes to go to Mersey Point which is an all black military school, that is now allowing white students to enrol.  There are a lot of black Crosses who are angry about this and start protesting outside the school. This is reflective of the all white schools being desegregated in the USA and white people protesting when black students started attending. Though the Prime Minister of Albion appears to be progressive and is trying to give rights to the Noughts, Sephy's father disagrees with this and takes action to get her removed. As Sephy's relationship with Callum develops, she begins to become aware of the oppression suffered by the Noughts and challenges a lot of the beliefs she grew up with.

There is a contrast between Callum and his brother Jude. Though they both want the conditions of Noughts to change, they believe in very different methods. Despite being oppressed, Callum doesn't have hatred towards the Crosses but wishes to create change by enrolling at Mersey Point. He wants to change the system from the inside (however his views do shift later). Conversely, Jude is frustrated and has a deep hatred towards the Crosses, he would rather use violence to change the conditions of the Noughts.  Jude joins the Liberation Militia which is a group  that are fighting for the liberation of Noughts from the Crosses by using violence.  The media refers to the Liberation Militia as a 'terrorist organisation'. (It appears that the Liberation Militia to a degree, is based on the Black Panther Party). It seems that Callum and Jude's approaches to liberation  are loosely based on Martin Luther King (Callum) and Malcolm X (Jude).

Unfortunately we still live in a world where racism still exists against people of color. There are some white people who struggle to grasp the concept of racism against black people. There are some others who believe that racism against black people is justified, and find it difficult to empathise with black victims of racism. I hope this series  shows these people how racism looks like towards someone that looks like them, then maybe it would open their eyes and give them a better understanding of racism against black people. I would definitely recommend watching the series as it deeply explores the impact of racism in all aspects of society and how this affects the lives of the oppressed.